NASA is rethinking its moon lander contract with SpaceX, raising the prospect that Elon Musk's company could lose its central role in the agency's Artemis III mission—the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo. Acting NASA chief Sean Duffy signaled during TV appearances on Monday that SpaceX is behind schedule in developing its Starship vehicle, which has experienced multiple test failures and delays. SpaceX signed the $2.9 billion vehicle contract, now worth $4.4 billion, in 2021, per Reuters. With the US in what Duffy calls a "race against China" to return astronauts to the moon, "I'm going to open up the contract" and "let other space companies compete," he said, per CNN.
The cancelation of the contract two years ahead of the planned mission date would be "a remarkable reversal," per CNN. Duffy suggested that Blue Origin—Jeff Bezos' space venture, which already holds a separate NASA lander contract for later Artemis missions—or possibly even other contenders could step in. His comments come as lawmakers have voiced concerns that NASA's schedule could slip behind that of China, which aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. "If SpaceX is behind, but Blue Origin can do it before them, good on Blue Origin," Duffy said. "But … we're not going to wait for one company."
NASA advisers believe Starship could push the Artemis III mission date back by "years," per Reuters. Duffy noted President Trump wants the mission to take place before his second term ends in January 2029. NASA has now asked both SpaceX and Blue Origin to present accelerated moon landing plans by next Wednesday, a rep tells Reuters. Musk responded to the Starship criticism Monday on X, saying his company is already "moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry." "Starship will end up doing the whole Moon mission," he added. "Mark my words."
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