NASA Adds Giant SpaceX Starship Rockets to Commercial Launch Program

NASA has announced a contract with SpaceX to upgrade its commercial launch services program. NASA Launch Services (NLS) II, which currently requires the agency to purchase launches on Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets, will allow NASA to purchase payload launches on Starships. This essentially gives SpaceX’s giant reusable rockets, although they are far from perfect, a new chance.

Image source: SpaceX

The last two Starship test launches, the seventh and eighth, ended with spectacular explosions of the ships, which may indicate fundamental problems with the platform. However, the contract signed, which provides for the inclusion of Starship in the launch procurement program, indicates a high degree of confidence in this SpaceX development among NASA officials.

In any case, Starships are essential to landing astronauts on the Moon as part of the Artemis program. This event is only a few years away, and without Starship being included in the launch procurement program, the bureaucratic machine simply won’t be able to function. A flight to the Moon is one thing, but preparing the documents is quite another. To start the bureaucratic procedures, at a minimum, it is necessary to have all the officially issued permits, even if the future rocket is still in the early stages of testing.

NLS II contracts are multi-year, with no fixed delivery dates or quantity limits, with ordering possible until June 2030 and a total execution period until December 2032. The contracts include annual additions of new services, allowing for bidding on future missions. Starships will start earning SpaceX contracts before they have even flown a single mission.