NASA Opens Moon Lander Contract to Competitors Over Starship Delays

‘I’m in the process of opening that contract up. I think we’ll see companies like Blue get involved, and maybe others,' Duffy said.

Scaffolding surrounds the Artemis solid rocket boosters inside the Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 3 during a NASA media day event at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 7, 2025. Steve Nesius/Reuters

NASA’s acting chief, Sean Duffy, said on Oct. 20 that the space agency is expanding competition for its flagship Artemis 3 mission due to delays with the SpaceX Starship lunar lander.

The move could enable competitors such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin to play a role in sending the first astronauts to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

“Artemis 3 is when we land back on the moon. That’s going to be a year and a half, two years. SpaceX has the contract. SpaceX is an amazing company, do remarkable things. They are behind schedule and so, the president wants to make sure we beat the Chinese, he wants to get there on his terms,” Duffy told “Fox & Friends.”

“I’m in the process of opening that contract up. I think we'll see companies like Blue get involved, and maybe others.”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a social media post that his company is advancing at a rapid pace in the sector.

“SpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry,” Musk said in a post on X. “Moreover, Starship will end up doing the whole Moon mission. Mark my words.”

Bezos’s Blue Origin contested NASA’s 2021 exclusive choice of SpaceX and lobbied for an alternate option to ensure redundancy.

Lt. Gen. John E. Shaw (ret.), former deputy commander of U.S. Space Command, told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Sept. 3 that the United States must unify and synchronize efforts or risk losing the new space race to China.

“It is clear to me that the Chinese Communist Party is already employing its own integrated grand strategy for the Earth-Moon system, with only superficial distinction between civil, commercial, and national security activities, and all focused on a common purpose,” Shaw said.

He was called to testify and answer “why Congress and NASA must thwart China in the space race.”

“If we don’t unify and synchronize efforts, we may find ourselves, rather than in a leadership position, in a position of increasing disadvantage as we get further into this century,” he said.

A NASA official said that the agency has told SpaceX and Blue Origin to present accelerated moon landing plans by Oct. 29

“NASA is also going to request plans from the entire commercial space industry ... for how NASA can increase the cadence of our mission to the moon,” a NASA spokesperson said.

Bob Behnken, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for exploration and technology strategy in its space division, said that the company has been conducting “significant technical and programmatic analysis for human lunar landers.”

Behnken, a former NASA astronaut, said the company looks forward to responding to Duffy’s directive regarding the nation’s lunar goals.

​​“We have been working with a cross-industry team of companies and together we are looking forward to addressing Secretary Duffy’s request to meet our country’s lunar objectives,” Behnken said.

T.J. Muscaro and Reuters contributed to this report.