This is a list of designs for crewed lunar landers, spacecraft intended to land on the Moon. A key aspect is achieving a soft landing, and for an ascent stage to successfully escape the Moon's gravity.[1] Another aspect is how many stages the design has to undergo to achieve its objective, and the number of passengers and amount of payload it can carry.
| Name | Manufacturer | Operator (program and operational timeline) | Stages | Crew | Payload Mass | Status | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NASA (Constellation, 2005–2009) | Descent, Ascent | 4 | 14,500 kg (32,000 lb) | |||||
| NASA (Apollo, 1969–1972) | Descent, Ascent | 2 | ||||||
| Boeing Lunar Lander | Boeing, NASA (Artemis, 2017–present) | Descent, Ascent | https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2019-11-05-Boeing-Proposes-Fewest-Steps-to-the-Moon-for-NASAs-Human-Lander | |||||
| Dynetics, NASA (Artemis, 2017–present) | Single-stage with drop tanks | 2-4 | https://www.dynetics.com/_images/banners/dyn-banner-119965424e.jpg | |||||
| Transfer, Lander/Ascent | 4 | https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRU2Q5zx2RhgcpC6Lqona-iowR_8gEke53B6Rbz6roOFaOBGe6Cz-VAkREp&s=10 | ||||||
| CMSA (CLEP) | Descent propulsion stage, Lander/Ascent | 2 | ||||||
| Soviet Union (N1-L3, 1969-1974) | Descent, Ascent | 1 | ||||||
| Lockheed Martin, NASA (Artemis, 2017–present) | Single-stage | 4 | 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) | https://www.flickr.com/photos/lockheedmartin/44167182465/in/album-72157671935059557/ | ||||
| SpaceX | Single-stage | https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/spacex_1.jpg | ||||||
| Starship HLS | NASA (Artemis, 2017–present), SpaceX | Single-stage | 4 | 100–200 t (220,000–440,000 lb) | https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/for_press_release.jpg | |||
| BIS Lunar Lander[2] | Single-stage | 3 | Studies (1939, 1947) | |||||
| Von Braun Lunar Lander[3] | US (1977) | Single-stage with drop tanks | 20 | 259 metric tons (with a crew of 10) | Study (1952) | |||
| Horizon LERV[4] | US Army (Project Horizon, 1966) | Descent, Ascent | 10 - 16 | 2,700 - 22,000 kg | Study (1959) | |||
| Lunex Lunar Lander[5] | US Air Force (Lunex Project, 1967) | Descent, Ascent | 3 | 20,500 kg | Study (1958–1961) | |||
| NASA Langley Research Center, (Project Gemini, 1963) | Single | 1 | ||||||
| LEK[6] | Soviet Union, (Zvezda Moon base, 1974) | Descent, Ascent, Reentry | 3 | |||||
| NASA (Space Exploration Initiative, 1992–93) | Descent, Ascent | 4 | 5,000 kg |
