Starship always felt a bit out of place for this mission, at least when it's shoehorned with SLS/Orion. I would rather arrive at the Moon later in exchange for the simplicity and cost savings of using New Glenn and Starship.
Likely, however, completely killing SLS and Orion would free up funds to accelerate the timeline, not delay it. This is all setting up for an exciting end to the 20s. Assuming no major global disasters, in the next five years, we can expect:
1) A return of humans to the moon by the US or China, perhaps both.
2) Fully reusable rocketry (maybe rapidly) from SpaceX
Nice piece Chris.
Starship always felt a bit out of place for this mission, at least when it's shoehorned with SLS/Orion. I would rather arrive at the Moon later in exchange for the simplicity and cost savings of using New Glenn and Starship.
Likely, however, completely killing SLS and Orion would free up funds to accelerate the timeline, not delay it. This is all setting up for an exciting end to the 20s. Assuming no major global disasters, in the next five years, we can expect:
1) A return of humans to the moon by the US or China, perhaps both.
2) Fully reusable rocketry (maybe rapidly) from SpaceX
3) AGI or ASI
4) Supersonic flight (big maybe).