SpaceX could lose its much-prized contract to put astronauts on the moon in the Artemis III mission that will mark the first crewed landing on the lunar surface since the final Apollo mission in 1972.
SpaceX won a contract four years ago to use its Starship rocket to send a modified upper stage to the moon. The current plan is to have two NASA astronauts transfer from NASA’s Orion spacecraft (carried to lunar orbit by its SLS rocket) to the Starship’s upper stage before descending to the lunar surface.
But in a surprise announcement made during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday, NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy said the U.S. space agency will explore other options for Artemis III — currently set for 2027 — as SpaceX is behind schedule on developing Starship.
“I love SpaceX, it’s an amazing company,” Duffy said. “The problem is, they’re behind. They’ve pushed their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China.”
Duffy continued: “The president and I want to get to the moon in this president’s term, so I’m going to open up the contract. I’m going to let other space companies compete with SpaceX, like Blue Origin.”
SpaceX chief Elon Musk responded on X, pointing out that “Blue Origin has never delivered a payload to orbit, let alone the moon,” adding later that he meant a “useful” payload. In another post, he wrote: “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.”
Blue Origin, founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, has flown its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket only once up to now — back in January — and in that mission delivered a prototype spacecraft to medium-Earth orbit.
NASA awarded a lunar lander contract to Blue Origin in 2023 involving its Blue Moon lander. The current terms of the contract will see Blue Origin use the lander to put astronauts on the lunar surface in the Artemis V mission, currently planned for no earlier than March 2030.
Reuters noted that Bezos reportedly spoke with President Trump at least twice over the summer in a bid to secure more government contracts for Blue Origin. The reported conversations came at a time when Trump was feuding with Musk following his criticism of the president’s key domestic legislation, known as the Big Beautiful Bill.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is continuing to develop the Starship in readiness for its lunar flights. The rocket’s performance over its eleven test flights has gradually improved, but the vehicle’s development still faces many hurdles before it’s ready to fly to the moon.
Last month, a senior advisory committee suggested that the Artemis III mission could be delayed by “years” as SpaceX continues with work to get the Starship ready.
The Artemis III mission target date has already slipped several times, and Duffy suggested on Monday it could slip again, with 2028 cited as a more realistic launch date.
China is aiming to put humans on the moon before 2030, though whether it too can meet its own deadline remains to be seen.
After 13 suborbital test flights and more than $15 billion in development costs, SpaceX's Starship has finally reached orbit. The 407-foot megarocket, the most powerful ever built, lifted off from Starbase, Texas, on Monday and delivered its first real payload on it's 14th attempt. The celebration came with an asterisk, though, since SpaceX had to cut the planned 10-hour mission to roughly three hours.
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/2104601695711904180
SpaceX is finally ready to give Starship its biggest test yet. The company says the massive rocket's 14th test flight is scheduled for September 22, when it will attempt to put the upper stage into Earth orbit for the first time. The launch is currently pending regulatory approval, with a 75-minute window opening at 7:15 a.m. CT.
Starship has 26 Starlink satellites to deliver
For decades, humanity has looked up at the Moon and wondered what it would be like to live on it. Think sprawling cities, factories, research centers, and permanent human settlements. Unfortunately, there is one fairly fundamental problem with that vision.
A new study published in Frontiers in Space Technologies argues that even the Moon's potentially enormous reserves of frozen water may be nowhere near enough to support city-sized populations sustainably. Researchers Martin Elvis and Jonathan McDowell estimate that the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles could contain roughly one billion tons of water. It sounds like an extraordinary amount until you put a million thirsty humans next to it.