What would a "simplified" Starship plan for the Moon actually look like?

""Since the contract was awarded, we have been consistently responsive to NASA as requirements for Artemis III have changed and have shared ideas on how to simplify the mission to align with national priorities," the company said. "In response to the latest calls, we've shared and are formally assessing a simplified mission architecture and concept of operations that we believe will result in a faster return to the Moon while simultaneously improving crew safety.""

""First, let's make a couple of assumptions. Any approach to shortening the Artemis III timeline should not involve major hardware changes. This rules out a "stubby" version of Starship, which would require a significant reworking of the vehicle's internals. Essentially, any new plan should use hardware that exists largely in the structural shape and form it's in. And for SpaceX, we'll assume that "simplified" means not working directly with other contractors beyond those already involved in Artemis III.""

Sean Duffy opened NASA's competition for a lunar lander and asked current contractors SpaceX and Blue Origin for more nimble plans. SpaceX referenced a "simplified" Starship variant and reported sharing ideas to simplify the mission, align with national priorities, and improve crew safety. Any accelerated approach should avoid major hardware changes, ruling out a significantly reworked "stubby" Starship. New plans should largely use existing hardware shapes and forms. For SpaceX, "simplified" likely means not engaging new contractors beyond those already involved in Artemis III. Possible changes include using expendable Starships.

Read at Ars Technica