In late 2025, a tense exchange unfolded in Congress as NASA's Artemis program came under scrutiny, revealing the fundamental challenges facing the U.S. lunar ambitions. For entrepreneurs like myself, deeply ingrained in fostering innovation and resilience, this hearing offered striking parallels to startup methodologies. The United States, with Artemis, appears stuck in an escalating loop of over-promise and under-delivery, a trap many founders would recognize. Here is why the Artemis plan matters to female entrepreneurs in Europe and what lessons we might glean for our own ventures.
What’s Going Wrong with Artemis?
NASA’s Artemis, aimed at returning humans to the Moon, relies on cutting-edge partnerships but has hit serious walls. During the hearing, former NASA head Mike Griffin criticized the plan for being overly complex and risky, with an extraordinary level of dependence on unproven in-orbit refueling technology. He straightforwardly stated, “It cannot work.” SpaceX’s Starship, for example, requires multiple refueling flights in low-Earth orbit to sustain a lunar mission. However, not one of these refueling operations has been demonstrated in space.
Griffin even recommended canceling Artemis III and starting afresh with a simpler approach. This isn’t just a technical discussion, this mirrors how fragile over-engineered business models can collapse under untested assumptions. For startup founders, this highlights a universal truth: without validating your foundation, you risk the entire structure crumbling.
On top of this, persistent delays and budget overruns plagued the program. The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft have been in development for over 15 years, with astronomical costs exceeding $93 billion by 2025. Accountability was a recurring theme in the Congressional debate. Dean Cheng of the Potomac Institute criticized cost-plus contracts for allowing endless overruns with little consequence. These delays are hauntingly familiar to anyone who has seen a promising product fall victim to missed deadlines.
Lessons for Female Entrepreneurs in Europe
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Simplicity Over Complexity
Grander doesn’t mean better, and Artemis proves this. Startups often chase intricate solutions to compete with big players, resembling how NASA attempts to outpace China. But Griffin’s plea to reset with a simpler mission structure is a reminder to entrepreneurs: complexity is the enemy of speed. Crafting a lean and straightforward roadmap can put you ahead in the game. Focus first on an MVP that relies on sound, tested principles instead of jumping to visionary (but unproven) methods. -
Unproven Technology Risk
The refueling system Artemis depends on remains untested. In startups, untested tools or unvalidated markets can waste time and money. Before scaling any idea, ensure the basics work. Whether you're launching software or hardware, invest in prototypes and validation. -
Hold Partners Accountable
NASA’s contracts allowed numerous delays without repercussions. Entrepreneurs in Europe often rely on partnerships for production, marketing, or distribution. Just like sloppy contracts hurt Artemis, weak agreements in startups can stall your goals. Insist on milestones for delivery, and do not shy away from implementing consequences. A friendly clause at the start is better than catastrophic failure later. -
Prepare for Competitors’ Bold Moves
China has been accelerating its plans without the bureaucratic hurdles faced by NASA. Women entrepreneurs often face steeper challenges entering male-dominated markets, yet competition can be ruthless regardless of the sector. Build strategies not only to innovate but also to execute faster than incumbents or new challengers. Speed and adaptability are your biggest allies. -
Transparency Equals Trust
The criticism that Artemis lacked transparency is something European entrepreneurs can shy away from. Transparent communication, whether with customers, employees, or investors, builds accountability. When pitching or launching, show data and backup research confidently.
Common Startup Pitfalls Echoed in Artemis
Over-Optimism in Timelines
Much like setting unrealistic goals for Artemis III in 2027, early founders might underestimate how long execution takes. Cushion your deadlines to account for unexpected hurdles.
Ignoring Budget Constraints
This program overstretched its budget, and startups easily fall into the same trap. A lean budget with realistic caps prevents you from needing emergency bailouts.
Neglecting External Factors
Griffin rightly emphasized the need to understand competitors like China. As a solopreneur, ignoring external forces, whether it's consumer trends, regulations, or new competitors, can leave you blindsided.
The Path Forward: How to Apply This Mindset in Business
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Conduct Low-Risk Experiments
Before leaping into massive funding or production, test components individually. Design experiments that scale easily when they succeed. -
Hire for Execution, Not Only Vision
NASA has brilliant minds but struggles with consistent execution. Hire team members who thrive under pressure and ship results, not just ideas. -
Validate Funding with ROI Milestones
Instead of overextending financial investments, track measurable outcomes at each funding stage, especially for women-led businesses seeking angel investors. -
Focus on Strategic Collaboration
Build partnerships but prioritize those willing to share both risk and accountability, unlike Artemis’s contractors.
A Closer Look: Why Accountability is Key
The greatest takeaway here is accountability, especially for governments like NASA and leaders like us. It echoes deeply with my experiences scaling CADChain while working across Europe and the U.S. When my startup faced technical bottlenecks, the one principle aiding recovery was holding larger partners accountable. Never assume individuals or entities will self-correct without agreements explicitly in place.
As one solution, NASA could adopt project-specific penalties for surpassing time or cost limitations. Female entrepreneurs can apply this in their projects too, leveraging contracts as protective shields for their aspirations.
Why Entrepreneurs Must Pay Attention to Artemis
Artemis may feel far removed from a European freelance designer or solopreneur running an Etsy shop, but it’s a cautionary tale. Poor planning, unmet deliverables, and lack of validation apply to human pursuits, space missions and startups alike.
Fail to plan for what goes wrong? You implode. Validate nothing while charging forward? You burn cash. Forget competition? Someone overtakes you.
These lessons, while harsh, are evergreen. Whether you’re running technical AI startups like myself or building community-driven handmade goods platforms, the path to survival rests in continuous evaluation, accountability, and a rejection of hubris.
NASA’s ambitions will likely pivot under this scrutiny, and hopefully, for the better. The Artemis program’s missteps provide a reflective window into challenges that we, as modern European entrepreneurs, particularly women carving our space, must recognize and sidestep. Keep processes lean, stay transparent, and trust only what you have validated. Remember, the moon is never out of reach, but your vehicle must be sound before you aim to land.
FAQ
1. What is the Artemis program and its goal?
The Artemis program is NASA’s initiative to return humans to the Moon, aiming for sustainable lunar exploration and setting the groundwork for Mars missions. Learn more about NASA’s Artemis program
2. Why was NASA’s current Artemis plan criticized in Congress?
During a Congressional hearing, former NASA head Mike Griffin stated that relying on unproven in-orbit refueling technology for Artemis missions is overly complex and “cannot work.” Read the full critique at Ars Technica
3. What is the specific technical challenge mentioned for Artemis?
Artemis depends on multiple in-orbit refueling flights for lunar missions, but this technology has not yet been demonstrated, making it a significant risk. Explore details at Orbital Today
4. Why are Artemis III and future missions potentially at risk?
Griffin recommended canceling Artemis III due to unfeasible designs and unproven technologies, suggesting a simpler mission structure similar to Apollo. Understand the recommendation at Space.com
5. How does Artemis compare to previous Apollo missions?
Unlike Apollo's straightforward approach, Artemis relies on complex reusable systems and partnerships, which have faced delays and budget overruns. Compare Artemis to Apollo on Ars Technica
6. What are the financial concerns associated with Artemis?
The Artemis program has exceeded $93 billion in development costs as of 2025 and faced widespread delays in systems like the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. Find financial insights in NASA's oversight report
7. What lessons can startups learn from Artemis’s challenges?
Artemis highlights key pitfalls like over-complexity, unproven technology, lack of accountability, and budget mismanagement, issues that can directly apply to startups. Explore entrepreneurial takeaways in the article
8. How is Artemis impacting U.S. space competition with China?
Congress is increasingly worried that bureaucratic delays in Artemis could allow China to land astronauts on the Moon before the U.S. does. Read the U.S-China competition analysis
9. What recommendations were made to fix Artemis?
Experts suggested simplifying the mission structure, improving contractor accountability, and adopting solutions that prioritize transparency and realism. See recommendations via Potomac Institute’s Dean Cheng
10. What is the importance of accountability in Artemis?
The reliance on cost-plus contracts has led to frequent delays and budget overruns with no real consequences. Calls for accountability include penalties for failure to deliver on time or within budget. Discover more about accountability issues in Ars Technica’s report
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
