Nasa opens US moon landing contract to rival bidders as Musk’s SpaceX lags
Citing SpaceX delays, the US space agency is shifting strategy and inviting new proposals for a high-profile crewed moon mission
Nasa said on Monday it was opening the marquee US moon landing contract to other bidders because Elon Musk’s SpaceX has experienced mounting delays with its Starship lunar lander.
The move paves the way for rivals such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to snatch a high-profile mission to land the first astronauts on the moon in half a century.
“I’m in the process of opening that contract up. I think we’ll see companies like Blue get involved, and maybe others,” the US space agency’s acting chief Sean Duffy, who also serves as US transportation secretary, told Fox News’ Fox & Friends show.
Duffy’s comments follow months of mounting pressure within Nasa to speed up its Artemis lunar programme and push SpaceX to make greater progress on its Starship lunar lander, while China progresses toward its own goal of sending humans to the moon by 2030.
It represents a major shift in Nasa’s lunar strategy, starting a new competitive juncture in the programme for a crewed moon lander just two years before the scheduled landing date. Blue Origin is widely expected to compete for the mission, while Lockheed Martin has indicated it would convene an industry team to heed Nasa’s call.