Towards the cancellation of Artemis using starships to send humans directly to Mars?

Artemis was desired by Donald J. Trump, then the 45th President of the United States of America. As a manned space program, it aims to return humans to the Moon and must make a step before reaching Mars, the ultimate goal represented by the red speed symbol on the Artemis logo.

Yet getting to our natural satellites requires a superheavy launcher, like the legendary Saturn V in its day, still the most powerful crew-carrying rocket today. Of course SpaceX’s superheavies and starships have surpassed it, but they are still in the prototype stage.

Since 2011, NASA has developed a new superheavy launcher, the SLS (Space Launch System), which is a central element of the Artemis program. Its debut in 2022 was subject to several delays, mainly due to leaks on its boosters. Eventually everything worked out, but some people didn’t appreciate the cost of the program. In fact, the production of one unit of this launcher, in its lightest version Block I, is equivalent to 2.2 billion dollars, the cost of one launch is up to 4 billion. A bit expensive, yes…

Note that the Artemis II team has already been selected and has been training for some time to repeat the Apollo 8 mission, that is, the trip from Earth to the Moon, but without landing on its surface.

Will Donald Trump and Elon Musk shuffle the cards?

Last October, SpaceX performed a never-before-seen maneuver with its Super Heavy + Starship launcher (capturing the Mechazilla Tower) and the entire Surprised the world. Elon Musk’s private aerospace company has all the makings of a huge future in space conquest. Of course, the starship is still a long way from being able to carry a crew, but that’s really its raison d’être.

Then, in November, the election of Donald Trump and the subsequent appointment of Elon Musk to head the department responsible for reviewing spending by federal agencies turned the spotlight on NASA. The sulfur tycoon, who also heads Tesla, announced that he wants to save US taxpayers $3,000 billion. Rumors begin, first about the expensive SLS…

It would indeed be an earthquake. The SLS was designed by, among others, a struggling Boeing and inspired the work of many on American soil. So it’s not certain that elected officials in the field will be too happy with the prospect. That said, the (future?) Artemis III mission should jointly approach Starship and SLS in this phase of the Moon landing program. Using only one launcher – at least on paper – to respond to a specific logic in terms of performance and cost.

Hello planet Mars, goodbye Moon

Donald Trump repeated during his election campaign that he hoped humans would walk on Mars before the end of his second term. Does he just want to please his friend Elon Musk or is there a strategy behind his words?

Here’s what a former senior official at the FAA, the body responsible for issuing transatlantic flight permits, said recently: “There’s a good chance we’ll take another look at the Artemis program, whether that means accelerating it or leaving the Moon to focus on Mars..

Now it will not be an earthquake, but a big explosion! Above all, such a shift would have profound political and geopolitical implications. Abandoning Artemis would mean abandoning the Gateway space station, which was scheduled to be put into orbit around the moon within the next three years. It would also mean that the US is giving up on a Chinese return to the moon. However, we know that there are valuable resources on our satellites, for example helium-3, which is very expensive and useful for nuclear fusion, as well as water, a desirable commodity in space. This is the last reason why the lunar south pole has been targeted by the Artemis program. For some, we should also question the Orion capsule, developed by ESA and Airbus, to carry astronauts.

Is Trump ready to plant a Chinese flag on the moon to become the president who would have financed the most incredible space program ever, along with the first man’s steps on Mars? It is wise to remember that if a trip to the Moon is within technological reach, it is not to the Red Planet. Achieving this within four years would require costs comparable to a major war effort. Elon Musk will not be an obstacle, on the contrary: he was born for it, he only thinks about it. But will Donald Trump’s America agree to pay the human and financial price?