SLS is unnecessary; Starship can handle Artemis missions at a fraction of the cost.

by Stephen Green

https://twitter.com/Trump__Train__/status/1847276415063863783

SLS requires Starship and the Lunar Gateway to get enough mass to the moon to make Artemis work. Starship can do the whole thing by itself. All things being equal, Artemis makes no sense.

But all things aren’t equal. SLS costs $4 billion per launch — just for the disposable rocket. SpaceX hopes to drive Starship costs down to $10 million per launch — or less — for a fully (and rapidly) reusable rocket.

Starship requires several launches to bring a full load of cargo to the moon because the second stage requires orbital refueling from more than one tanker. But SLS still costs 40 or 50 times what Starship would — while still requiring Starship to complete Artemis and to get Lunar Gateway built.

Whatever becomes of Artemis specifically or the lunar program generally, there’s zero case for SLS.

 

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