NASA’s Artemis program will mark a before and after in the history of space exploration because, thanks to the missions scheduled for the coming years, Humanity will set foot on the Moon again after five decades.
In November 2022, the US space agency successfully launched the first unmanned mission And, in September 2025, astronauts on the Artemis II mission are expected to test the Orion spacecraft for the first time, and in September 2026, return to Earth’s natural satellite. However, before carrying out this second mission of the Artemis program, scientists have to check the status of the spacecraft and carry out the final tests, although, at the beginning of July, NASA reported that Orion successfully completed final rounds of testing and assembly.
Although NASA is, a priori, complying with its established schedule, there are other companies such as Honeybee Robotics that are also facilitating the return to the Moon. This space company, owned by Blue Origin, wants to develop an infrastructure that would serve as a power, communications and lighting center on the lunar surface.
This innovation, called LUNARSABERwill be a lunar navigation system with advanced remote sensing and autonomous power transmission, will measure 100 meters high and will incorporate solar panels to produce about 100 kW in order to supply power to other devices, communicate with a wide range of assets, and provide light to astronauts to carry out missions effectively.
LUNARSABER could also serve as a kind of lunar telephone tower to provide wireless communicationthus allowing different explorers to coordinate with each other or for an astronaut to send an order to another cosmonaut. In addition, one of its networks would allow communication with Earthif necessary.
Our return to the Moon is closer
The first stage of the SLS rocket is almost completebut will undergo some equipment upgrades so that NASA engineers can mate two solid rocket boosters, the interim cryogenic upper stage, the launch vehicle stage adapter and the Orion spacecraft.
In addition, in the coming months, the teams will work on the incorporation of hardware into the main elements of the spacecraft.
And finally, When everything is finished, NASA will prepare for the Artemis II missionin which astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen will make a ten-day trip around the Moon and back.
