Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy has signaled a major shift in the agency’s human lunar landing strategy, expressing frustration with delays in the SpaceX Starship program and stating a clear intent to open the prestigious Artemis III contract to new competitors.
Duffy confirmed that NASA will open up the Human Landing System (HLS) contract, which was initially a nearly $4.4 billion award to SpaceX in 2021 to develop the Starship lunar lander for the Artemis III mission.
This move signals a dramatic change in NASA’s approach, which is being driven by pressure to accelerate the timeline to land American astronauts on the Moon before China, whose goal is a crewed landing by 2030.
Duffy stated that while SpaceX is an “amazing company,” they are “behind schedule” and have pushed their timelines out. This has put the mid-2027 target date for the Artemis III landing at risk, with some internal NASA estimates suggesting Starship may not be ready until 2028.
Duffy emphasized, “We’re not going to wait for one company.”
To move forward, NASA is leveraging competition to spur innovation and speed. Both SpaceX and Blue Origin which already holds a contract for the later Artemis V mission have been given a deadline of October 29 to present “acceleration approaches” for their lunar lander development.
Furthermore, the agency is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to the wider commercial space industry to solicit plans on how NASA can increase the “cadence” of its missions to the Moon.
Duffy stated that the ultimate goal is for American companies to compete to see who can get astronauts back to the Moon first, and before the end of the current presidential term in January 2029.
The reopening of the contract now paves the way for other aerospace companies to bid for the Artemis III mission. Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, is widely considered the leading contender to challenge SpaceX for the initial crewed landing.
Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander is already in development for a later mission, and the company has indicated it is “ready to support.” However,
Duffy also suggested the competition would be opened more broadly, potentially including companies that do not yet have contracts, such as Lockheed Martin which has expressed readiness to form a consortium.
A key technical challenge facing any provider, including both Starship and Blue Moon, is the requirement for in-orbit refueling, a complex procedure that has never been attempted and introduces significant risk to the timeline.
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