NASA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a significant audit on March 10, 2026, raising concerns about astronaut safety and potential delays for the two commercial lunar landers contracted for the Artemis program — SpaceX’s Starship Human Landing System and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander. Both vehicles are being developed to carry astronauts to the lunar surface on future Artemis missions.
Key Safety Concerns
The audit’s most striking finding involves a fundamental disagreement between NASA and SpaceX over manual control requirements. The report states: “NASA and SpaceX disagree on whether the provider is meeting the intent of the Agency’s manual control requirement.” The ability for crew to manually control their spacecraft is considered a critical safety feature and a key element of human rating certification.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon — which has flown astronauts to the International Space Station multiple times — received a waiver for manual control and has performed all ISS dockings autonomously. However, the audit suggests that the same approach may not be appropriate for a lunar landing system where communication delays and mission criticality are significantly higher.
For Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander, the audit noted that decisions on manual control requirements have yet to be made, which the OIG flagged as a concern given the vehicle’s development timeline.
Artemis Mission Schedule Update
NASA recently shifted plans so that Artemis 3 — originally intended as the first crewed lunar landing — will instead be a near-Earth mission in mid-2027 to test docking procedures with one or both landers. This effectively delays the first Moon landing further. NASA is targeting April 1, 2026 for the Artemis 2 lunar flyby, which remains on track.
Both Companies Respond
The audit recommended NASA consult with the Commercial Crew Program — which has overseen both Crew Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner — to review manual control risk findings. SpaceX and NASA are in active discussions to resolve the disagreement before Starship’s human rating certification is complete.
The Bigger Picture
Despite the concerns, the audit noted that costs for both the SpaceX and Blue Origin Human Landing System contracts have remained on target so far — a relatively rare piece of good news in NASA’s historically over-budget major programs. The OIG’s full report is available on NASA’s website for those wanting to dive into the technical details.
