{"id":301267,"date":"2026-03-11T06:06:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T13:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/?p=301267"},"modified":"2026-03-11T06:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T13:07:16","slug":"nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A NASA watchdog report stated that continued development work on SpaceX\u2019s Starship could affect the timeline for the agency\u2019s planned Artemis moon missions. The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before the spacecraft can serve as a crewed lunar lander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings were detailed in a report from NASA\u2019s Office of Inspector General, as noted in a report from Reuters<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA selected SpaceX\u2019s Starship in 2021 to serve as the Human Landing System (HLS) for its Artemis lunar program. The vehicle is intended to transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back as part of future Artemis missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the watchdog report, Starship\u2019s development has experienced roughly two years of schedule delays compared to earlier expectations. Still, NASA is targeting 2028 for the first crewed lunar landing using the Starship lander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most significant technical milestones for Starship\u2019s lunar missions is in-space refueling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support a crewed lunar landing, multiple Starship launches will be required to deliver propellant to orbit. Tanker versions of Starship will transfer fuel to a storage depot spacecraft, which will then refuel the lunar lander.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report noted that this approach could require more than 10 Starship launches to fully refuel the spacecraft needed for a single lunar landing mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASA officials indicated that demonstrating cryogenic propellant transfer in orbit remains one of the most important technical steps before Starship can be certified for lunar missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SpaceX has conducted 11 Starship test flights since 2023 as the company continues developing the fully reusable launch system. A 12th test flight, this time featuring Starship V3<\/a>, is expected to be held in early April. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before Starship can serve as a crewed lunar lander.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21274,"featured_media":293796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4489,543],"tags":[9,571,469],"class_list":["post-301267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elon-musk","category-spacex","tag-elon-musk","tag-featured","tag-spacex"],"yoast_head":"\nNASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before Starship can serve as a crewed lunar lander.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before Starship can serve as a crewed lunar lander.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TESLARATI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Teslarati\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sim.alva\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-11T13:06:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-11T13:07:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Simon Alvarez\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/ResidentSponge\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@teslarati\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Simon Alvarez\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Simon Alvarez\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3c54d23a7cb95c3dfd9c1731720bc68f\"},\"headline\":\"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T13:06:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-11T13:07:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/\"},\"wordCount\":291,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Elon Musk\",\"Featured\",\"SpaceX\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Elon Musk\",\"SpaceX\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/\",\"name\":\"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-11T13:06:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-11T13:07:16+00:00\",\"description\":\"The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before Starship can serve as a crewed lunar lander.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":853,\"caption\":\"Credit: SpaceX\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Elon Musk\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/category\/elon-musk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/\",\"name\":\"TESLARATI\",\"description\":\"Tesla news, rumors and reviews. SpaceX, Elon Musk, batteries, energy, premium EV market.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"TESLARATI\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/teslarati-leaf-logo-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/teslarati-leaf-logo-1.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"TESLARATI\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Teslarati\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/teslarati\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/teslarati\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/teslarati\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCgY_B6vi2610bBkXFwCxcTg\",\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@teslarati\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/teslaratimedia\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3c54d23a7cb95c3dfd9c1731720bc68f\",\"name\":\"Simon Alvarez\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/simon-alvarez-avatar.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/simon-alvarez-avatar.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Simon Alvarez\"},\"description\":\"Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sim.alva\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/ResidentSponge\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/author\/simon-alvarez\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline","description":"The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before Starship can serve as a crewed lunar lander.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline","og_description":"The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before Starship can serve as a crewed lunar lander.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/","og_site_name":"TESLARATI","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Teslarati","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sim.alva","article_published_time":"2026-03-11T13:06:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-11T13:07:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":853,"url":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Simon Alvarez","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/ResidentSponge","twitter_site":"@teslarati","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Simon Alvarez","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/"},"author":{"name":"Simon Alvarez","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3c54d23a7cb95c3dfd9c1731720bc68f"},"headline":"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline","datePublished":"2026-03-11T13:06:37+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-11T13:07:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/"},"wordCount":291,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg","keywords":["Elon Musk","Featured","SpaceX"],"articleSection":["Elon Musk","SpaceX"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/","url":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/","name":"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-11T13:06:37+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-11T13:07:16+00:00","description":"The report noted that several technical milestones still need to be completed before Starship can serve as a crewed lunar lander.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spacex-starship-ten-sunset.jpg","width":1920,"height":853,"caption":"Credit: SpaceX"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/nasa-watchdog-starship-artemis-timeline\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Elon Musk","item":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/category\/elon-musk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"NASA watchdog says Starship development delays could affect Artemis timeline"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/","name":"TESLARATI","description":"Tesla news, rumors and reviews. SpaceX, Elon Musk, batteries, energy, premium EV market.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#organization","name":"TESLARATI","url":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/teslarati-leaf-logo-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/teslarati-leaf-logo-1.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"TESLARATI"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Teslarati","https:\/\/x.com\/teslarati","https:\/\/instagram.com\/teslarati\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/teslarati\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCgY_B6vi2610bBkXFwCxcTg","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@teslarati","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/teslaratimedia"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3c54d23a7cb95c3dfd9c1731720bc68f","name":"Simon Alvarez","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/simon-alvarez-avatar.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/simon-alvarez-avatar.jpg","caption":"Simon Alvarez"},"description":"Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.teslarati.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sim.alva","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/ResidentSponge"],"url":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/author\/simon-alvarez\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301267"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301270,"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301267\/revisions\/301270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teslarati.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}