Washington d.c.: NASA's acting administrator has declared significant modifications to the agency's lunar landing strategy, attributing the changes to SpaceX's delays in developing its Starship lander and increasing pressure from the White House to achieve a lunar landing before China.
According to Anadolu Agency, Sean Duffy, who also serves as the US transportation secretary, revealed on Fox News that SpaceX is lagging behind its timeline for the $2.9 billion Human Landing System contract with NASA. He mentioned President Donald Trump's desire for US astronauts to land on the Moon during his current term. As a result, NASA plans to reopen the competition for new lunar lander designs.
Duffy expressed the urgency of the situation, stating, "They're behind schedule, and so the president wants to make sure we beat the Chinese. So I'm in the process of opening that contract up. I think we'll see companies like Blue (Origin) get involved, and maybe others."
This announcement signifies NASA's official recognition that achieving a crewed lunar landing by 2027 is no longer feasible. SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, and Blue Origin already have contracts with NASA for developing reusable lunar landers. However, technical challenges, such as in-space refueling, have slowed progress. Duffy also suggested that traditional aerospace firms like Lockheed Martin might enter the competition.
On Monday, Lockheed confirmed its work on alternative lander concepts, expressing readiness to support NASA "as quickly as possible." Bob Behnken, vice president of exploration and technology strategy at Lockheed Martin Space, stated, "Throughout this year, Lockheed Martin has been performing significant technical and programmatic analysis for human lunar landers that would provide options to NASA for a safe solution to return humans to the Moon as quickly as possible."
The expanded program might necessitate additional funding from Congress, potentially raising total costs to between $20 billion and $30 billion, nearly ten times the value of the original SpaceX contract.
Elon Musk, however, dismissed concerns over delays, asserting on social media platform X, "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." Despite being a top campaign donor and close advisor to Trump, Musk experienced a falling out with the president over the summer.
Amid mounting political and technical pressures, the future of NASA's lunar ambitions may rest on whether the expanded competition envisioned by Duffy can genuinely expedite progress.