NASA Issues Stern Message To SpaceX Over Moon Lander Delay In Space Race With China

by Aaron Leong — Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 11:03 AM EDT

Unabashedly lighting the fire under SpaceX, acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy announced on Monday that the agency is opening its high-profile Artemis III human lunar landing contract to new bidders. The $4.4 billion contract, initially awarded exclusively to Elon Musk’s SpaceX in 2021, will now be open to rivals, such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, due to what Duffy deemed "behind schedule" progress on the Starship lunar lander.

Duffy's announcement comes as America’s space strategy comes under increasing pressure to ensure a timely return to the lunar surface. Duffy, serving also as the U.S. Transportation Secretary, made it clear that the agency’s hand was forced by two factors: development delays and the intensifying geopolitical space race.

"The problem is, they’re behind," stated Duffy, referring to SpaceX's development timeline. While praising SpaceX as an "amazing company," the administrator emphasized the urgency of the moment. China has publicly set a target to land its own astronauts (a.k.a. taikonauts) on the Moon by 2030, a date that now looms large over NASA's schedule.

Duffy stressed, "We are in a race against China, so we need the best companies to operate at a speed that gets us to the Moon FIRST." He also directly tied the mission to the current administration's goals, stating the President is determined to see a successful lunar landing within his term, which ends in January 2029.

SpaceX's Starship, the massive rocket chosen for the Artemis III landing, has faced major technical hurdles. The complexity of the mission—which requires multiple in-orbit refueling demonstrations—has raised concerns from safety panels and industry veterans that the crewed lunar landing, currently targeted for no earlier than mid-2027, is likely to slip into 2028 or beyond.

Due to this delay, Duffy confirmed that "I’m going to open up the contract. I’m going to let other space companies compete with SpaceX, like Blue Origin," adding that NASA won't wait for "one company".

blueorigin hls lander de ae moon1 — *What Blue Origin's moon lander mission could look like*

Opening the contract could allow Blue Origin, which had previously lost the initial Artemis III contract, to step in. The company is already developing its Blue Moon lander under a separate contract for the later Artemis V mission and has been asked by NASA to submit an "acceleration approach" for its timeline by October 29.

This shakeup can be seen as a wise move by NASA to build redundancy into the Artemis program, ensuring that the U.S. has a guaranteed path to the Moon, regardless of any single contractor's delays.