NASA to Approximately Spend $93 Billion on Upcoming 2025 Artemis Moon Mission

The core operations of NASA's Artemis program, which intends to create a sustained human presence on and around the moon by the end of the decade, are expected to cost more than $90 billion by 2025.

NASA to Spend $93 Billion on Upcoming Moon Mission

The space agency has revealed its plans to spend up to $93 billion on Artemis until 2025. This statistic comes from the NASA Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) most recent audit.

Furthermore, the Office of the Inspector General predicts that each launch will cost roughly $4.1 billion.

Last year I projected the cost of SLS / Orion to be exactly $4.1B. And that is way too high for the 21st century. I wonder much longer before @NASA considers launching humans to LEO in a Dragon / F9, docking w/ Starship in LEO - going to the moon, then docking to HLS Starship? https://t.co/ERTw5ISPvc
— Everyday Astronaut (@Erdayastronaut) November 15, 2021

According to the nonprofit Planetary Society, the United States spent $ 28 billion on the NASA Apollo lunar program between 1960 and 1973. In today's money, that's almost $280 billion.

The cost of the launch includes both the modular Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion crew capsule. Both of these items are essential to the Artemis lunar mission's success.

This current estimate has increased, indicating that NASA's Artemis plans have been subject to several cost increases.

A report from SpaceFlightNow claimed that NASA initially predicted that Artemis would cost roughly $86 billion over the same period.

ALSO READ: NASA Says First Crewed Artemis Moon Landing Delayed Until 2025

New technical obstacles are driving up the expense of returning people to the moon. CBS News mentioned that the price tag is being driven up by a combination of technical concerns and "unrealistic" deadlines.

According to Planetary.org, the initial lunar missions in the Apollo program cost over $25.8 billion during their peak.

But don't dismiss that expense. Because, when adjusted for inflation, Apollo's $28.5 billion cost would be more than quadruple that of the $263.8 billion Artemis lunar trip.

NASA's average annual budget is around $23 billion (per Houston Chronicle), so they'll have to scrape pennies to stay afloat. When it comes to putting human personnel on the moon, cutting corners is never a wise idea.

NASA Artemis Mission

Space.com said the work on the planned moon expedition began in 2011 with the Orion capsule and SLS rocket building. As a result, it's vital to remember that the NASA OIG's $93 billion estimate includes a decade's worth of costs. It's not a one-time, big-ticket purchase.

In addition, NASA is segmenting the Artemis program into many parts. There will be three distinct releases in all.

Artemis 1: The Orion capsule will be linked to the Mega Moon Rocket;
Artemis 2: NASA will launch the first crewed launch here, albeit they will not be the astronauts who will land on the moon;
Artemis 3: The final mission to land people on the moon for the first time since December 1972.

It's easy to see why Artemis would cost so much, with numerous launch stages and billions of dollars in creating technology. It would be the first time in over five decades that humans have stepped foot on another planet.