Starship Raptor Engine Glitch Clouds NASA's Artemis Moon Timeline

A propulsion failure during the latest test flight of SpaceX's Starship has raised questions about whether the vehicle can stay on track to serve as NASA's crewed lunar lander, a role central to the agency's Artemis moon program.

The malfunction occurred during Starship's 14th uncrewed test flight, launched from Texas. One of the spacecraft's three main Raptor engines shut down unexpectedly after Starship separated from its lower-stage booster. Flight controllers nonetheless continued the mission, sending the craft to orbit for its first commercial satellite deployment, though the flight was cut short by several hours.

Starship is one of two vehicles competing to become the first to carry astronauts to the lunar surface and back, a feat last accomplished in 1972 during the Apollo era. NASA has set a formal target of returning crews to the moon by 2028, a goal widely viewed as ambitious, partly because China has announced plans for its own crewed lunar landing by 2030.

Because a Starship-based lander would use the same engine system to ferry astronauts to and from the moon, the cause of the shutdown matters well beyond SpaceX's own bottom line. Aerospace engineer Dean Sladen said the impact would depend on whether the problem proves to be a one-off failure of a single part or signals a broader design flaw requiring fleet-wide upgrades. Any fix that delays upcoming flights, including a planned attempt to catch the ship with the launch tower's arms after re-entry, would eat into the schedule.

"The real pressure is the moon. NASA needs Starship for Artemis III," Sladen said, referring to an Earth-orbit test mission targeted for as soon as next summer as a rehearsal for the program's first crewed landing.

Raptor engine and propulsion issues have contributed to earlier Starship setbacks, including an engine that failed to ignite as planned during the craft's 12th flight in May. The methane-fueled engines rank among the most complex and expensive components on the rocket. During some previous flights, SpaceX scrubbed plans to test-ignite a Raptor in space, though all engines fired successfully during ascent on the 13th flight in July.

SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk near Los Angeles in 2002, is competing with Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Jeff Bezos, under NASA's Artemis program. SpaceX was originally contracted to supply the first crewed lunar lander, but NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said in April that the agency would go with whichever lander is ready to fly first, calling the added competition healthy given mounting delays in Starship's test program.

SpaceX is developing a Human Landing System based on Starship, a towering stainless-steel vehicle far larger than any previous moon lander, while Blue Origin is building its Blue Moon lander on a more traditional design. If both are ready, they are likely to take part in the Artemis III mission, demonstrating orbital maneuvers with their in-space engines. That precursor mission, targeted for as early as summer 2027, would test rendezvous and docking in low Earth orbit.

Isaacman disclosed the competing-lander strategy days after NASA completed its Artemis II mission, which sent astronauts around the moon and back in the first crewed launch of the agency's Space Launch System rocket, built by Boeing and Northrop Grumman, and the Orion capsule, made by Lockheed Martin. NASA and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the engine failure.