LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21 — Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy announced Monday that the agency will reopen bidding for its lunar lander contract, currently held by SpaceX, due to delays in the company’s progress on the Artemis III mission.
“SpaceX has the contract to build the HLS (Human Landing System), which will get U.S. astronauts there on Artemis III,” Duffy said in a post on X.
“But, competition and innovation are the keys to our dominance in space, so NASA is opening up HLS production to Blue Origin and other great American companies.”
The HLS will carry astronauts from lunar orbit to the Moon’s surface as part of NASA’s Artemis program. Crews will board the lander in orbit, descend to the surface to collect samples, conduct science experiments and observe the lunar environment, then return to orbit for their journey back to the Earth, according to the agency.
“They (SpaceX) do remarkable things, but they’re behind schedule,” Duffy said in an interview with Fox News, adding that U.S. President Donald Trump hopes to see the lunar landing take place before his term ends in January 2029.
Duffy also said the final major hardware component for Artemis II — NASA’s next crewed mission around the Moon — has been installed.
The Orion spacecraft, named “Integrity,” which will carry the Artemis II astronauts, has been fully attached to the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, he said on X.
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk downplayed the announcement, saying on X that his company is “moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry,” adding that “Starship will end up doing the whole Moon mission.”
SpaceX is among several major contractors supporting NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish the first long-term human presence on the Moon and pave the way for future missions to Mars. Other companies involved include Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
NASA awarded SpaceX the initial contract to develop its Starship-based HLS for Artemis III — the first human lunar landing since 1972.
Under the contract, SpaceX must conduct one uncrewed demonstration flight before the crewed mission. In December, NASA revised the Artemis timeline, targeting April 2026 for Artemis II, the first crewed flight around the Moon, and mid-2027 for Artemis III, which aims to explore the lunar south pole region. (Xinhua)
