NASA Opening Up SpaceX Moon Landing Contract to Competition
(Bloomberg) — NASA wants companies to compete with SpaceX for a contract to send astronauts to the moon; This is a new sign of blowback over delays to Elon Musk’s Starship spacecraft.
“I’m in the process of opening that contract,” NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy said in an interview on Fox News on Monday. “We will have a space race between American companies competing to see who can get us back to the moon first.”
The inclusion of other space companies so late in the agency’s signature human space exploration program signals growing concerns from President Donald Trump’s administration that the United States is falling behind China in its effort to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time in more than half a century.
“I love SpaceX. It’s a great company,” Duffy told CNBC. “The problem is they’re behind. They’ve pushed their timelines forward and we’re in a race against China.”
NASA has awarded contracts worth nearly $4 billion to SpaceX to develop the company’s Starship vehicle into a lunar lander that could carry the agency’s astronauts to the moon as early as 2027.
Duffy did not explain what he meant by opening SpaceX’s contract, specifically whether he envisioned a new bidding process or whether the company was getting the funds back.
A NASA representative had no comment beyond Duffy’s statement. A SpaceX spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SpaceX first competed for the Moon lander contract and won two other finalists in 2021. NASA also awarded Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin a second contract worth $3.4 billion to develop a lunar lander in 2023.
Blue Origin’s lander is planned to carry the first human astronauts to the moon by 2029, but it’s unclear whether the company can accelerate that timeline.
“Blue Origin stands ready to support,” a company spokesperson said in a statement in response to questions about Duffy’s announcement.
SpaceX conducted another mostly successful test of its Starship rocket earlier this month. But the company must demonstrate and master many new technologies between now and the moon landing, especially the ability to refuel Starship while in orbit and launch the vehicle roughly a dozen or more times in a row. It’s a daunting to-do list as SpaceX still hasn’t completed a full orbital mission with Starship.
Duffy said opening the SpaceX contract would allow the United States to return to the Moon before China. He said he expects Blue Origin to participate in the new competition.
NASA plans to launch astronauts around the moon early next year as part of a mission known as Artemis II. The space agency’s lunar landing aboard SpaceX’s Starship is planned for 2027, but critics doubt the company’s vehicle will be ready in time.
–With help from Sana Pashankar.
(Updated with Blue Origin statement in paragraph 10.)
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