Washington DC [US], October 21 : Acting Administrator Sean Duffy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday (local time) suggested the US space agency will be opening up its Human Landing System (HLS) production contracts for its Artemis lunar programme contract to additional companies, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin.
In a post on X, the NASA acting chief stated that the need for competition and innovation was needed to outpace China in the race to the Moon, while Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk swiftly dismissed the move, asserting that its Starship will dominate the mission.
"We are in a race against China, so we need the best companies to operate at a speed that gets us to the Moon FIRST. SpaceX has the contract to build the HLS, which will get U.S. astronauts there on Artemis III. But competition and innovation are the keys to our dominance in space, so NASA is opening up HLS production to Blue Origin and other great American companies," Duffy said.
According to CNN, Duffy expressed concern that SpaceX, which holds a USD 2.9 billion contract to deliver the lunar lander for astronauts, is falling behind schedule, potentially jeopardising the agency's goal of landing humans on the Moon ahead of China in the intensifying space race.
Duffy's comments come as NASA's 2021 decision to award the lunar lander contract to SpaceX faces renewed scrutiny from within the space industry. Experts have raised concerns that the complexity of using SpaceX's Starship system could delay the mission and potentially allow China to reach the Moon first, as reported by CNN. The Artemis III, the mission to send the first humans to the lunar South Pole region, is currently scheduled for no earlier than mid-2027.
However, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk dismissed concerns about delays and responded defiantly to the announcement.
Taking to X, Musk said, "They won't. SpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry. Moreover, Starship will end up doing the whole Moon mission. Mark my words."
Musk's retort carries added weight given his tumultuous history with US President Donald Trump, whose administration oversees NASA funding. The two men, once close allies, engaged in a bitter public feud over Trump's massive tax cut and spending bill.
According to CNN, if NASA were to revise or cancel its agreement with SpaceX, it would represent a major shift in the agency's current strategy, which has been in place since selecting Starship in 2021 as the primary lander for Artemis III.
Starship, still in a relatively early stage of development, has encountered three in-flight failures and achieved a few successful suborbital tests so far in 2025.
NASA currently has contracts with two private companies for lunar lander development: SpaceX, using its Starship vehicle, and Blue Origin, which is working on its own lander, Blue Moon.
While SpaceX is slated to carry astronauts to the Moon in Artemis III, Blue Origin is expected to support future missions later in the Artemis programme, such as Artemis V, after receiving its contract in 2023, CNN reported.
The timeline for Artemis III has become a growing concern among some US lawmakers, who fear that delays could allow China to beat the US back to the lunar surface. China has publicly stated its aim to land taikonauts, Chinese astronauts, on the Moon by 2030, as reported by CNN.
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