A Crewed Landing Mission, Line by Line
What does one crewed lunar landing mission cost in the Artemis architecture, item by item, and which items could fall?
Chapter summary
Setcoin's line-by-line estimate for an early Artemis landing mission (Artemis IV or V) is about $5.6–6.9 billion: about $4.1 billion for SLS and Orion (the OIG per-launch figure, likely higher in 2026 dollars), $1.0–2.0 billion for the lander's share including tanker flights, $0.2–0.4 billion for mission operations, communications and recovery, and $0.2–0.3 billion for surface equipment and science.
Key takeaways
- 1
Two astronauts spending about six and a half days on the surface give about 13 person-days, or roughly $430–530 million per person-day.
- 2
The items that can fall are the lander (with reuse) and surface time per mission (with a base); SLS and Orion are fixed in the current plan.
Keep reading with Space access
This chapter (2 exhibits, 528 words) is part of Space & aerospace. Space access opens every chapter of all 11 Space reports, with the interactive models, Excel downloads, Ask and named Atlas records.
- Global Market Analysis: Deep Space Economy
- Space-Based Datacenters: Feasibility Study
- Commercial Space Stations: Feasibility Study
- Defence Space and Missile Defence: Golden Dome and the SDA Architecture
- Launch After Starship: Prices, Capacity and European Sovereign Launch, 2026–2035
- Satellites to Phones: Direct-to-Device Connectivity, Spectrum and Economics, 2026–2035
- Space Supply Chain Bottlenecks: Components, Minerals and Capacity, 2026–2030
- Lunar, Cislunar and Settlement Economics: What the Moon Costs and Who Pays, 2026–2060
- Earth Observation and AI Analytics: What a Square Kilometre Is Worth and Who Captures It, 2026–2035
- In-Space Manufacturing and Microgravity Biotech: Products, Platforms and Economics, 2026–2035
- Space-Based Solar Power: Physics, Costs and the Path to Firm Power from Orbit, 2026–2050
€199 a month or €1,490 a year per sector, after a 7-day free trial. Cancel any time. Need several sectors? All sectors: €999 a month.
SLS and Orion: the Cost of the Government Stack
Next →Human Landing Systems: Starship and Blue Moon
Check the live record Space Contracts & Tender Radar · Space Claim Check (free)
Ask about this chapter
Answers drawn from every Setcoin report and the live Atlas. Each statement links to the passage behind it.
Ask is included with every subscription
Cited answers across every report and the Atlas, with follow-up questions and a hand-off to the opportunity finder.
Research for professional investors. Not investment advice, and not an offer of any security or fund interest.