GAO breaks the silence about Artemis decisions, is NASA a part of Starship's 2026 plans?

SpaceX has talked about Starship orbital flight for five years, and after Friday's flight test, they may be on the eve of that first one. It was a big step for Starship, but didn't change the outlook for the lunar lander that NASA wants to rent to take astronauts to the Moon on Artemis IV. Like previous flight tests, we would need some guidance from NASA or SpaceX about how close they are to Artemis objectives...although it's less clear how high a business priority that is now. The GAO did break some of the silence about the impact and consequences of NASA's remake of the Artemis plan at the beginning of the year. It turns out the Exploration Upper Stage contract was officially terminated over two months ago in May. GAO is also breaking news about the fate of other SLS upgrades like the solid rocket booster upgrade in development or Mobile Launcher-2. Those projects aren't dead, at least not yet, and apparently NASA is still figuring out what to do with them, if anything. In this video, I'll also go over the latest pictures we have of preparations for Artemis III and production of Artemis IV SLS hardware. Imagery is courtesy of NASA, except where noted. Links to social media posts:   / 1451581465645494279   Join the channel for additional members-only content:    / @philipsloss   Or, consider buying me a coffee to support my work and the channel. https://buymeacoffee.com/philipsloss 00:00 Intro 02:15 Artemis III Watch: RS-25 engines ready for SLS Core Stage installation 06:01 EGS continuing to prepare SLS booster segments for stacking 07:26 Assembly images of the "spacer" at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama 08:13 Artemis IV Watch: the Core Stage-4 liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank returns from proof test 12:17 GAO breaks NASA silence about the fate of some Artemis programs 19:18 Starship flight test 13 on July 24 22:00 Thanks for watching!