Human Landing System Lunar Landers

The Human Landing System (HLS) is the class of crewed lunar lander spacecraft developed for NASA's Artemis program to carry astronauts from lunar orbit to the Moon's surface and back, continuing the human landing capability the United States last flew during the Apollo program in the early 1970s. Unlike the uncrewed robotic landers used for earlier exploration and later commercial delivery missions, an HLS vehicle is designed to support a crew through the descent, surface stay and ascent phases of a mission, with life support, a hatch or airlock for surface operations, and enough propulsive capability to return astronauts to lunar orbit for the trip home. NASA solicited competing HLS proposals from multiple contractors before selecting a design to fly, leaving the unselected concepts as documented alternative approaches to the same requirement.