As NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission progresses smoothly, the focus is shifting to the crucial Human Landing System (HLS).

The biggest challenge now lies with the landers; both SpaceX and Blue Origin have submitted proposals. Removing the requirement for docking at the Lunar Gateway has sped up their plans.

NASA’s Lori Glaze confirmed that while details are still scarce, there will be a time when they share more information about these accelerated plans. The agency is optimistic as both companies have taken the task seriously and proposed simplified requirements to speed things up.

The race is on for these private contractors to deliver their landers before NASA’s next big deadline – the Artemis III mission aiming for the Moon in 2024.