The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel of NASA, represented by former astronaut Charlie Precourt, recently suggested that the Artemis 4 mission might require approximately 22 refueling launches to support a single Starship lunar landing. This estimate highlights concerns regarding mission complexity and the required launch cadence for the program.
Elon Musk disputed the figure on the social platform X, stating that the estimate is too high. According to Musk, the actual number of refueling flights needed for the mission would likely range between 6 and 8. Neither NASA nor SpaceX has publicly disclosed the specific technical calculations behind their respective estimates.
The final number of required launches depends on several critical factors, including the actual payload capacity of the Starship V3 and the volume of propellant that each tanker can successfully transfer. Additionally, the success of the mission relies on orbital fuel storage technology and the ability of SpaceX to maintain a high-frequency, rapid-reuse launch schedule.
