Which NASA program selected SpaceX’s Starship to land astronauts on the Moon?

NASA’s Artemis program selected SpaceX’s Starship to land astronauts on the Moon.

In April 2021, NASA selected SpaceX to develop a human landing system based on Starship for the Artemis program. The proposed Starship Human Landing System is intended to transport astronauts between lunar orbit and the surface during a future Artemis mission.

Artemis is NASA’s modern lunar-exploration effort, following the Apollo era. Its goals include returning humans to the Moon, developing experience for longer missions, and establishing a sustained presence in lunar orbit and on the surface. Starship HLS is only one part of the wider Artemis architecture.

A frequent mix-up is calling the project Apollo because Apollo was the earlier NASA program that landed astronauts on the Moon. Artemis is the program associated with the planned modern lunar landings, while Starship is the selected SpaceX landing vehicle.