2023-04-17 09:54:51
NASA has chosen SpaceX and its Starship spacecraft project to return to the Moon. SpaceX.
INTERVIEW – The head of solar system exploration programs at Cnes, the French space agency, is following with interest the evolution of Elon Musk’s program, the advent of which could revolutionize space. But there is still a long way to go, he warns.
THE FIGARO. – What is the place of Starship in NASA’s Artemis lunar program ?
Francis ROCARD. – The SpaceX ship was selected in 2019 by NASA as the only moon landing system for its astronauts. Originally, the US space agency was to fund two competing projects for in-depth studies before making a final choice. For budgetary reasons, it preferred to make a single and, a priori, definitive choice. I was very surprised that NASA opted for this solution. I did not really see the point of financing this new launcher when the agency had its new SLS rocket. But SpaceX was asking for half as much as its competitors: 2.9 billion dollars, compared to the 93 billion committed by NASA for its program until 2025. NASA also judged that SpaceX presented more guarantees in terms of maturity technological since the company was already flying rockets, which was not the case for its…
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