Report

regarding 

NASA Human Landing System Program

pursuant to

Explanatory Statement

accompanying

FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-103)

April 2022
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Report 

regarding 

NASA Human Landing System Program

The Explanatory Statement accompanying the FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 

117-103) includes the following direction for NASA:

Human Landing System (HLS) -The agreement provides not less than $1,195,000,000 for 

HLS, including no less than the requested amount for the Lunar Lander office. With 

these funds, in addition to enabling a human landing during the Artemis III mission, 

NASA is expected to make real investments in development that promote competition for 

the sustainable lander phase rather than additional studies. The agreement urges NASA 

to enable a routine cadence of human transportation services to and from the Moon with 

multiple providers, as practicable. Within 30 days of enactment of this Act, NASA is 

directed to deliver a publicly available plan explaining how it will ensure safety, 

redundancy, sustainability, and competition in the HLS program within the resources 

provided by this Act and included in the fiscal year 2023 budget request. 

In response to this direction included in the Explanatory Statement accompanying the FY 2022 

Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 117-103), the following report constitutes NASA’s plan 

regarding how the Human Landing System (HLS) program will ensure the above-described goals 

within the resources provided by P.L. 117-103.

Introduction

The United States is going back to the Moon, and NASA recognizes the need to achieve this 

monumental feat by fostering the commercial development of expertise and technologies 

required for safe, sustainable, and human-rated landing systems. NASA’s HLS program will use 

a combination of management and acquisition approaches to reach the Nation’s goal of 

sustainable lunar exploration this decade and beyond.

NASA appreciates the continued support of the Committees on Appropriations as demonstrated 

by the full funding of NASA’s FY 2022 requested budget for the HLS program in P.L. 117-103. 

In recognition of Committee recommendations, NASA has continued to evolve and refine its 

HLS program planning to achieve safety, redundancy, sustainability, and competition. 

With prior-year appropriations for HLS, NASA has made significant progress toward enabling a 

human landing system for the Artemis III mission. Despite the challenges presented by the 

COVID-19 pandemic, the HLS program has nonetheless accomplished all planned work and 

milestones, including major reviews of Design and Construction Standards and the Certification 

Baseline Review for the Artemis III lander. Additionally, NASA has established formal 

organization (control boards, internal/external working groups) and management standards (and 

associated formal documentation) that will enhance planning and control for the Artemis III 

mission. 
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NASA awarded a contract for the full development of an initial lander capability to SpaceX in 

April 2021 (Appendix H, Option A of the NextSTEP-2 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)).

Following lengthy delays caused by unsuccessful bid protests of this award, work resumed in 

late 2021, and this provider has successfully achieved initial requirements for scheduled 

milestone payment(s). The objective of Option A is to facilitate the rapid development and 

demonstration of a U.S. landing system that will deliver the first American crew to the surface of 

the Moon in more than 50 years. The Option A contract scope of work includes both an 

uncrewed and crewed lunar landing demonstration. The uncrewed demonstration will prove out 

landing capabilities prior to the crewed mission with astronauts. During the Artemis III mission, 

the HLS will first dock with Orion in lunar orbit to receive the crew, after which it will safely 

descend to the lunar surface with two astronauts for approximately a six day stay. During this 

time, the crew will perform lunar surface extra‐vehicular activity, conduct science objectives,

and collect materials from the surface. The HLS will then ascend from the surface to lunar orbit 

for rendezvous and docking with Orion. Figure 1 illustrates the Artemis III mission Concept of 

Operations.

Figure 1 – Artemis III Concept of Operations

Subsequent to the Option A contract award, NASA further developed its requirements for a 

sustainable HLS capability and engaged with multiple additional providers from the U.S. 

aerospace industrial base. Through the “Appendix N” contract awards made in September 2021, 

five providers have worked with NASA to mature system concepts and achieve risk reduction. 

This provider input, along with NASA’s own continued evolution of its HLS requirements, has 

resulted in a highly-refined set of sustaining lander requirements, including increased crew size, 
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increased lunar descent and ascent mass, and longer stays on the lunar surface with additional 

EVA capability. 

Updated HLS Acquisition Strategy

On March 23, 2022, NASA announced an update to the next phase of its HLS acquisition 

strategy, separating sustaining lander development and demonstration from regularly recurring 

transportation services. This strategy provides maximum support for competition and empowers 

NASA to expedite award(s) for sustaining lander development. Under this approach, NASA will 

utilize the flexibilities built into SpaceX’s Appendix H, Option A contract to solicit for a 

proposal from SpaceX to add the “Option B” scope of work; Option B calls for SpaceX to evolve 

the Artemis III Starship design into a lander that fully meets NASA’s sustainable lander

requirements. In addition, NASA will seek proposals from non-SpaceX industry providers for a 

separate, near-term competition for sustainable lander development and demonstration. These

parallel paths will support redundancy and competition, and bolster industry readiness prior to 

NASA’s future competition for the Sustaining Lunar Transport (SLT) services contract.

On March 31, 2022, NASA took an important step in executing this revised acquisition strategy 

by releasing a draft solicitation for its sustainable lander development and demonstration 

competition (Appendix P of the NextSTEP-2 BAA, hereafter referred to as the HLS Sustaining 

Lunar Development (SLD) procurement). Within this draft solicitation, NASA provided 

sustainable requirements for companies other than SpaceX interested in developing and 

demonstrating astronaut Moon landers. The provider awarded an SLD contract will be required 

to perform one uncrewed and one crewed demonstration landing. NASA will certify all

sustainable landers prior to any crewed demonstration missions, ensuring astronaut safety and 

mission success. Combined, the SLD contract and SpaceX’s Appendix H contract will facilitate 

multiple providers competing for NASA’s future SLT contract.

Below, Figure 2 illustrates the current HLS acquisition approach, including: the SpaceX initial 

(Option A) and sustaining (Option B) capability demonstrations through the current Appendix H 

contract; the new competitive SLD procurement open to all potential providers other than 

SpaceX; and finally, the future SLT procurement for sustaining transportation services. 
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Figure 2 – Human Landing System Acquisition Plan

Together, these concurrent sustaining lander development efforts provide NASA with 

redundancy during the critical design and development phase. This development will enhance 

initial lander capabilities with features such as the ability to dock with Gateway for crew transfer, 

an increased crew size, increased mass to and from the lunar surface, additional extra-vehicular 

activity, and longer surface stays. The vehicles developed via Appendix H Option B and the 

SLD procurement will provide more capability than the vehicle developed via Option A, and 

collectively these procurements allow for the necessary testing of systems and processes before 

sustained lunar transportation efforts begin.

Pending the successful award of both Option B and an SLD contract within the funds provided in 

NASA’s FY 2023 budget request, NASA’s updated approach to sustainable lander development 

efforts will result in additional flights to prove and demonstrate sustainable lander capabilities,

with one crewed mission for SpaceX and both uncrewed and crewed missions for the SLD 

provider. The FY 2023 budget request includes sufficient funds to execute the work scope in FY

2023; outyear budgets will be informed by the firm fixed prices awarded by NASA for these 

sustainable development efforts. To maintain programmatic and budget flexibility, NASA plans 

to utilize contract option periods for fiscal years beyond FY 2023.

NASA has established an ambitious sustainable lander development schedule that precedes the 

SLT competition, with a goal of executing one demonstration mission per year following the 

initial Option A crewed landing under Artemis III. This cadence provides the Artemis campaign 

with valuable redundancy in sustaining capability readiness during the development phase and 

enables at least two providers, if successful, to compete for long-term sustaining services. Figure 

3, below, depicts the planned HLS demonstration missions.
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Figure 3 – HLS Lunar Landing Demonstration Mission Plan 

Safety is a primary NASA value – a cornerstone in our culture – and a prominent priority in 

every assessment and decision made in program management. The HLS acquisition approach 

described above demonstrates a commitment to safety by supporting multiple providers and 

associated redundancy for the lunar campaign development phase, in addition to requiring an

uncrewed demonstration of all human landing systems prior to the spacecraft performing crewed 

missions. Furthermore, NASA’s initial Artemis III lander, the evolution of this lander under 

Option B, and any lander developed under the SLD contract will all undergo extensive safety 

requirement reviews and adjudication processes overseen by NASA. NASA’s sustaining HLS 

requirements were also developed with significant input from NASA’s safety and crew 

organizational disciplines, including new and updated Health and Medical requirements to 

ensure the campaign is safe for the crew commensurate with the additional requirements and 

Artemis campaign elements. The HLS development approach further demonstrates NASA’s 

commitment to safety first by ensuring up-front requirements are well understood by the 

providers. By enabling the development of at least two sustainable lander capabilities, NASA is 

empowered to ensure that safety is a priority in its future selection of one or more SLT services 

providers.

The Committees on Appropriations have emphasized the importance of robust competition

within the HLS program. This updated acquisition strategy for the next phase of the HLS 

program robustly supports multiple providers’ development of unique sustaining human landing 

systems. These providers will then be capable of competing to provide crewed missions for 

NASA under a future SLT procurement. The envisioned result will enable a routine cadence of 

human transportation services to and from the Moon with multiple providers ready to compete

for services.
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Budget

The President’s FY 2023 Budget Request for the NASA HLS program (released March 28, 

2022) is shown in Figure 4. Supporting information for HLS is provided in NASA’s FY 2023

Congressional Justification (found on: https://www.nasa.gov/budget pgs. 102-106). 

Figure 4

In the FY 2023 President’s Budget Request, NASA has requested $1.486B for the Human 

Landing System program, which will support development of the Artemis III SpaceX Starship 

lunar lander and the initial implementation of NASA’s updated acquisition strategy for 

sustainable lunar lander development and demonstration. Outyear budgets will be informed by 

the firm fixed prices awarded by NASA for these sustainable development efforts. To maintain 

programmatic and budget flexibility, NASA plans to utilize contract option periods for fiscal 

years beyond FY 2023.

Management 

NASA is confident that the Agency’s management approach for the HLS program enhances the 

likelihood of success in technical, schedule, and cost objectives. NASA’s management process 

is based on, and consistent with, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management 

Requirements (defined in NASA Procedural Requirement NPR 7120.5F) – a disciplined,

comprehensive structure for program management. This structure methodically develops plans 

and cost estimates, reviews them at Key Decision Points, and positions NASA to make an 

Agency Budget Commitment when plans and requirements are sufficiently mature. NASA has, 

and will continue to, set bold, ambitious mission schedules within its HLS solicitation. This 

approach supports lunar landing services coming online as quickly as possible and provides the 

Artemis campaign flexibility in its planning. NASA also continues to see advantages in 

combining the public-private partnership development model with NASA’s evolved program and 

contract management approach as implemented through insight/oversight teams representing 

multiple NASA Centers and technical management disciplines, including Engineering, Crew, 

Safety, Flight and Ground Ops, Program and Business Management. Furthermore, NASA 

continues to benefit from synergies and improvements when compared to traditional approaches 

from the infusion of commercial space capabilities, interests, and motivations. 

Summary

NASA welcomes the continuing review of NASA’s HLS program plans and performance by the 

Committees on Appropriations, the support of which is key to enabling the safety and success of 

NASA’s exploration objectives. 

Responsible for the transportation of humans between lunar orbit and the lunar surface, NASA’s 

HLS program is at the center of the Artemis campaign and the United States’ robust civil space 
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program. The HLS program and Artemis more broadly will yield groundbreaking science and 

unprecedented strides in human exploration, empowering the United States and its partners to 

develop and utilize lunar surface resources while leveraging the Moon as a proving ground for 

future Mars missions.

NASA’s investment in a flexible lunar exploration architecture through strategically designed 

and executed HLS procurements and resultant contracts as described in this report enables the 

safest and most affordable long-term approach to accessing the lunar surface. This approach 

acknowledges that NASA is one of many customers that has expressed an interest in purchasing 

lunar transportation services. Investments by the private sector are expected to grow as market 

opportunities are identified and activities expand from science and exploration to include 

resource utilization to the benefit of both public and private sectors.

Through Artemis, NASA and its international and commercial partners will establish a cadence 

of trips to the Moon to conduct science investigations, technology demonstrations, and establish 

a long-term presence to prepare for humanity’s next giant leap – sending American astronauts on 

a round trip mission to Mars.