NASA and its two human landing system providers, Blue Origin and SpaceX, have simplified the design of their future lunar descent vehicles and revised their operational concepts for upcoming crewed missions. The goal is to accelerate the development schedule and advance the landings within the Artemis programme, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface and establish a lasting human presence on our natural satellite.

Since the agency signed its initial contracts with both companies, teams have worked to reduce the technical complexity of the vehicles and adjust the approach, descent and landing phases. These revisions respond to the need to lock in a realistic schedule for crewed missions planned for 2028, within NASA's broader effort to maintain a sustained presence on the Moon.

NASA's human landing system programme calls for both Blue Origin and SpaceX to develop vehicles capable of carrying crews from lunar orbit to the surface and back. The collaboration between the agency and the commercial sector aims to cut costs and timelines, drawing on each company's accumulated experience in launches and space operations.

The revised descent vehicles will have to demonstrate their reliability before the first crewed missions, with prior uncrewed tests validating the performance of the propulsion, navigation and life support systems. The agency has not yet detailed the specific schedule for those tests, but the stated goal is to have the vehicles ready for the 2028 lunar missions.