NASA Is Losing Faith in SpaceX

As China makes significant progress toward a 2030 Moon landing, NASA is growing restless. Recent setbacks in the development of NASA’s chosen lunar lander—SpaceX’s Starship—have agency leaders eyeing alternative options.

In 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to provide the first crewed lunar lander for the agency’s Artemis program. The lander—a modified version of Starship’s upper stage—is supposed to land astronauts on the Moon for the first time on the Artemis 3 mission, slated to launch in mid-2027. But after Starship’s development veered off track this year, NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy said he plans to “open up the contract†to competitors.

“SpaceX had the contract for Artemis 3,†Duffy said during a CNBC appearance on Monday. “The problem is they’re behind. They push their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China. The president and I want to get to the Moon in this president’s term.â€

“So, I’m going to open up the contract,†he continued. “I’m going to let other space companies compete with SpaceX, like Blue Origin, and again, whatever one can get us there first, to the Moon, we’re going to take.â€

How did we get here?

The year got off to a rough start for SpaceX’s Starship program. The megarocket suffered three back-to-back launch failures between January and May, causing significant delays to its development timeline and raising concerns about whether it will be ready for Artemis 3.

SpaceX’s luck finally changed with a near-perfect test flight in August, but the win did little to ease concerns among industry experts. In early September, experts told the Senate Commerce Committee that the U.S. risks ceding the Moon to China largely because Starship’s development has lagged behind. Later that month, members of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel said the Starship Human Landing System (HLS) could be “years late.â€

Starship’s final launch of 2025 went off without a hitch on October 13, ending the launch schedule for Version 2 of the megarocket on a high note. In 2026, SpaceX will debut Version 3, a larger, upgraded iteration of Starship that NASA will use for Artemis 3.

Before that can happen, SpaceX must demonstrate orbital test flights and in‑orbit propellant transfers, finish development of its Starship HLS lunar lander variant, and carry out an uncrewed lunar landing. Hitting those milestones by mid-2027 will be a tall order, especially considering that “pretty much everything changes on the rocket with Version 3,†as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in September.

It’s easy to see why NASA has some concerns, but whether another spaceflight company could deliver American astronauts to the lunar surface before SpaceX remains an open question.

Which companies might step forward?

In an appearance on Fox News on Monday, Duffy characterized the re-opening of the Human Landing System contract as a “space race†between American spaceflight companies.

“We’re going to have a space race in regard to American companies competing to see who can actually get us back to the Moon first,†he said.

NASA did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for more information about how this “space race†will work or how it will be funded. In a statement to SpaceNews on Monday, NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens said, “NASA’s Human Landing System program has given both SpaceX and Blue Origin the opportunity to present acceleration approaches by Oct. 29.â€

“NASA is also going to request plans from the entire commercial space industry—through an RFI—for how NASA can increase the cadence of our mission to the Moon,†she added.

Blue Origin is the only SpaceX competitor NASA has named thus far. Jeff Bezos’s company is already under contract to build the second Artemis lunar lander for the Artemis 5 mission. Other companies could make a bid for the Artemis 3 contract, with potential contenders including Dynetics, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and more. But that remains to be seen.

In a post on X, Duffy stated that NASA is seeking “the best companies to operate at a speed that gets us to the Moon FIRST.â€

“They won’t,†Musk replied. “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.â€