The Boeing Human Landing System (HLS) was the name of a proposed lunar lander concept by
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
that was submitted by Boeing to
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
on 5 November 2019 as part of the
Artemis program
The Artemis program is a robotic and human Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) along with three partner agencies: European Space Agency (ESA), Japan Aerospace Exploration ...
and the NextSTEP H. The proposal was presented as the "quickest and simplest method" for a 2024
Moon landing
A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959.
The United St ...
. The lunar lander concept was not selected for funding by NASA as part of Artemis in the 30 April 2020 announcement.
Overview
Boeing Human Landing System was a proposal for the design of a lunar lander and lunar orbit spacecraft that would use the
Space Launch System
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...
(SLS rocket) being developed by NASA to launch the lander into Earth orbit and then place it in
lunar orbit
In astronomy, lunar orbit (also known as a selenocentric orbit) is the orbit of an object around the Moon.
As used in the space program, this refers not to the orbit of the Moon about the Earth, but to orbits by spacecraft around the Moon. The ...
where it would rendezvous with the NASA Lunar Gateway and join up with a crew sent up in an Orion space capsule. This design concept was presented as a response to NASA's solicitation in May 2019, where about a dozen companies proposed lunar lander designs.
The Boeing lander consists of a descent and ascent stage with the descent stage being able to deorbit the lander, which eliminates the need for a third transfer stage. The lander was explicitly designed to be launched on the Boeing-built
SLS Block 1B
The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any ...
rocket rather than assembled in space after multiple launches, reducing the number of mission-critical events from 11 to 5, and reducing mission complexity. The lander was to be designed such that it would not have to dock onto the Lunar Gateway and could dock with Orion directly in order to allow for a simpler mission profile. The lander was intended to reuse several technologies from Boeing's
CST-100 Starliner
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner is a class of two partially
, so that the pressure vessel,
life support
Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic ...
and
avionics
Avionics (a blend word, blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, ...
systems could be flight-tested and human-rated before being integrated into the lander.
Intuitive Machines
Intuitive Machines, LLC is a private American company headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was founded in 2013 by Stephen Altemus, Kam Ghaffarian, Tim Crain. Intuitive Machines is completing its lunar program which will provide lunar surface access ...
was selected to build and test the lander's engines and fuel tank structure.
Aerojet Rocketdyne
Aerojet Rocketdyne is an American manufacturer of rocket, Hypersonic flight, hypersonic, and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, the company is owned by Aeroj ...
was also participating in the project.
Challenges
One problem with the lander is its high launch mass which required it to be launched by a SLS Block 1B. This variant of SLS is not expected to be operational until 2025 at the earliest. It was stated that the lander could be launched in parts with the descent stage launching on SLS Block 1 and the ascent stage launching on a commercial launcher and the two parts be assembled in lunar orbit in case Block 1B is not ready.
Investigation
The NASA inspector general launched an investigation after Boeing attempted to change the details of the submission, potentially indicating that Boeing had received information about other bids.
See also
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Dynetics Human Landing System
The Dynetics Autonomous Logistics Platform for All-Moon Cargo Access (ALPACA)—also known as Dynetics HLS—(ILV) is a human spaceflight lunar lander design concept proposed in 2020/21 for the NASA Human Landing System (HLS) component of the Ar ...
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Integrated Lander Vehicle
The Integrated Lander Vehicle (ILV) is a human spaceflight lunar lander design concept proposed in 2020/21 for the NASA Human Landing System (HLS) component of the Artemis program. Blue Origin was the lead contractor for the multi-element lunar la ...
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Starship HLS
Starship HLS, or Starship Human Landing System, is a lunar lander variant of the Starship spacecraft that will transfer astronauts from a lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back. It is being designed and built by SpaceX under contract ...
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Lockheed Martin Lunar Lander
The Lockheed Martin Lunar Lander is a series of design concepts by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Lockheed Martin for a crewed lunar lander.
The first proposal, Mars-Precursor Lunar Lander is a reusable crewed lunar lander first unveiled in Octo ...
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List of crewed lunar lander designs
This is a list of designs for crewed lunar landers, spacecraft intended to land on the Moon. A key aspect is achieving a soft landing, and for an ascent stage to successfully escape the Moon's gravity. Another aspect is how many stages the desig ...