Rocket launch marks big step in building China’s lunar infrastructure

Queqiao-2 will relay data between Earth and Chinese spacecraft on the far side of the Moon.

See full article...

 

[BCGeiger]

According to Eric Berger's anonymous source it is highly likely, that after few launches NASA will drop SLS and Orion and switch to Dragon + Starship.

1. HLS launched to LEO
2. refueled
3. astronauts launched to LEO on a Dragon
4. dock HLS
5. Earth-Moon-Earh roundtrip on HLS
6. Dragon launched to LEO
7. dock HLS
8. astronauts splash down on a Dragon

Even if Blue Origin enters the game they'll go a similar route (maybe with Starliner, hopefully being flight approved till then).

There is no rational reason to keep SLS on the long run, even if costs are not considered, one launch per year is obviously not enough to maintain continuous present on the Moon.

This is exactly why I’ve not liked the SLS. It’s too expensive and not able to maintain the firing rate needed to establish and maintain a lunar base. It’s just an Apollo retread and doesn’t take advantage of a lot of the things we have developed since then, reusability being one of the big ones. One launch every month or two is what’s needed, not once a year or two. SLS is just so the Americans can say “We got back there first”. To be honest though, that might not happen. They are a year or more from man rating the Starship. The version that is supposed to land hasn’t even been built yet, or been man rated. The SLS has flown once, but has not been man rated. The program is still on the 2028 track they said years ago, and if there’s any accident or setback, 2030 wouldn’t surprise me. That puts the Chinese within striking distance of getting there first.