Starship's engine failure raises reliability concerns ahead of Artemis test

SpaceX's Starship has reached orbit, but an engine failure during its latest test flight has raised fresh questions about how quickly Nasa can move ahead with its plan to return astronauts to the Moon.During Starship's 14th uncrewed test flight from Texas on September 28, one of the spacecraft's three main Raptor engines shut down unexpectedly after it separated from its booster.The spacecraft still reached orbit and deployed 26 Starlink satellites, marking its first commercial satellite deployment, but the mission ended several hours earlier than planned. The cause of the engine failure is still being investigated, and it will be significant considering the same Raptor engine system is central to the version of Starship being developed to carry astronauts to and from the Moon. WHY IS STARSHIP IMPORTANT FOR NASA'S MOON TRIP?Nasa has selected SpaceX to develop its Starship Human Landing System, which is designed to take astronauts from lunar orbit to the Moon's surface and bring them back, making the vehicle a crucial part of the agency's Artemis programme.The latest failure does not automatically mean Nasa's Moon missions will be delayed. SpaceX's mega rocket Starship makes a test flight from Starbase, Texas. (Photo: AP) For now, much depends on whether SpaceX determines that the problem was an isolated component failure or something that requires wider changes to the Starship fleet.But the timing leaves little room for setbacks.Nasa's inspector general has already warned that technical problems and previous Starship flight failures have put pressure on the schedule for Artemis. Raptor-related problems have occurred on earlier Starship flights too, including an engine that failed to ignite as planned during Flight 12 in May.However, all engines did successfully fire during the ascent of Flight 13 in July. An artist's concept of a lunar rover designed by SpaceX to be used for Artemis missions. (Photo: Nasa)Â WHEN COULD HUMANITY RETURN TO THE MOON?Nasa has already tweaked its immediate Artemis timeline.Artemis-III, planned for 2027, will now be a crewed demonstration mission in Earth orbit, and is intended to test the critical rendezvous and docking operations between Nasa's Orion spacecraft and commercial lunar landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin.The first planned crewed lunar landing has shifted to Artemis-IV, which Nasa is targeting for early 2028. The astronauts would travel aboard Orion, meet a commercial lander in lunar orbit and then descend to the Moon's surface. Starship lifts off during Flight-14, its first orbital flight. (Photo: SpaceX) Furthermore, Nasa is also no longer relying solely on SpaceX.Both SpaceX and Blue Origin are developing lunar landers, giving the agency another option if one system is not ready on schedule.For now, the Starship engine failure is therefore a warning sign rather than a confirmed setback to humanity's return to the Moon.But with several major tests still required before Starship can carry astronauts, every additional problem could consume some of the time available before the 2027 and 2028 Artemis milestones.- Ends