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SpaceX Starship Must Complete Multiple Refueling Tests to Meet 2028 Moon Landing Goal
SpaceX completed a Starship flight test on May 26, 2026. The company faces additional technical requirements before landing astronauts on the Moon by 2028 under a White House executive order.
May 26, 6:29 PM·1m read1 source
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SpaceX completed a flight test of its newest Starship capsule. The company must still complete several untested procedures to meet a 2028 deadline for landing astronauts on the Moon. The White House issued an executive order requiring Americans to return to the Moon by 2028. NASA reopened competition for the lunar lander contract after delays with Starship pushed the original 2024 target.
SpaceX must demonstrate in-orbit refueling of Starship from tanker spacecraft while both vehicles travel at 28,000 kilometers per hour. The company must repeat this process in lunar orbit before descent. Robert Zubrin, an aerospace engineer, said the sequence requires 10 to 15 Starship launches before propellant boils away.
He described the 2028 timeline as optimistic but said Starship could reach operational status as a reusable heavy-lift system by then.
Origin is developing its own lunar lander under a separate NASA contract. China is testing a crew lunar lander with the goal of landing taikonauts before the end of the decade. U.S. progress and adjust their own development schedules.
