by As NASA prepares to launch its first lunar rocket next month, the companies behind its Artemis lunar mission, including SpaceX, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, are gearing up for future missions.effort. Lockheed Martin said last week that NASA has ordered three more Orion spacecraft developed by the company for the sixth to eighth missions of the Artemis program. The company is currently building the Orion spacecraft for the second through fifth missions of the Artemis program. Boeing said it is also making hardware for the SLS rockets used for these missions. SpaceX executives said the company has been working on a series of ground tests that will take place ahead of the first orbital test flight of its Starship launch vehicle, a Starship NASA hopes to use for the third time Artemis mission. The vehicle’s role in the mission currently scheduled for 2025 is to pick up two astronauts from the Orion spacecraft and send them to the lunar surface.
