SpaceX’s Starship rocket 38 launches through the eleventh check flight on October 13, 2025 as seen from South Padre Island in Texas.
Gabriel V. Cardenas | Afp | Getty Photos
SpaceX stated it has pitched NASA a “simplified mission” to place astronauts again on the moon following criticisms over delays by Sean Duffy, the area company’s appearing administrator.
In an organization weblog put up out Thursday, Elon Musk’s aerospace and protection contractor stated: “We have shared and are formally assessing a simplified mission structure and idea of operations that we imagine will lead to a quicker return to the Moon whereas concurrently bettering crew security.”
Earlier this month, Duffy stated in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Field, that SpaceX was delayed on constructing its lunar touchdown system for NASA’s Artemis III mission and that the company would reopen the touchdown contract for that mission to rivals equivalent to Jeff Bezos‘ rocket maker Blue Origin.
A NASA spokesperson in an e-mail to CNBC stated that the company “has acquired and is evaluating plans from each SpaceX and Blue Origin for acceleration of HLS manufacturing.”
“Following the shutdown, the company will problem an RFI to the broader aerospace trade for his or her proposals,” the spokesperson stated. “A committee of NASA subject material specialists is being assembled to judge every proposal and decide the perfect path ahead to win the second area race given the urgency of adversarial threats to peace and transparency on the Moon.”
NASA had beforehand stated that SpaceX and Blue Origin would have till Oct. twenty ninth to suggest new methods to hurry up the undertaking.
Musk initially responded to Duffy by posting to his social community X, “Sean Dummy is attempting to kill NASA!” In one other put up, Musk wrote: “The individual answerable for America’s area program cannot have a 2 digit IQ.”
SpaceX’s large Starship has flown 11 check flights to date, uncrewed. The final two flights have been deemed profitable, however the firm has not but proven all of the in-orbit refueling capabilities it requires earlier than embarking on the Artemis III, manned lunar mission.
Blue Origin has been creating a lunar lander for NASA and has acquired about $835 million from the area company since their contract started in 2023. The corporate plans to launch a smaller scale model of their lander, referred to as Blue Moon Mark 1.
In the meantime, China is aiming to land its astronauts on the moon by the tip of the last decade.
In September, in an all-hands conferences with NASA workers, Duffy advised his employees that he was irked by “shade thrown” on the area company at a Senate listening to through which some attendees doubted that the U.S. may put astronauts again on the Moon earlier than China may land its astronauts there.
In addition to its lunar mission, China additionally introduced it’s sending a brand new crew to its orbiting lab, the Tiangong area station, this week. China constructed this area station after it was excluded from entry to the Worldwide House Station resulting from U.S. nationwide safety considerations.
SpaceX is paid when it achieves completely different milestones beneath its NASA contract for the HLS (human touchdown system built-in lander).
In line with USA Spending, which tracks federal contracts, NASA has already paid roughly $2.7 billion to SpaceX for the “design, growth, manufacture, check, launch, demonstration and engineering help” of the HLS. The company is obligated to pay round one other $300 million for milestones SpaceX achieved, and Musk’s firm stands to earn a complete of $4.5 billion (or one other $1.5 billion) from the HLS contract in the event that they obtain all milestones.
SpaceX right this moment stated, of their firm weblog put up, that they “self-funded” 90% or extra of this system, which might indicate they’ve spent over $30 billion already.
As CNBC beforehand reported, some NASA workers have been required to work with out pay for the area company through the federal authorities shutdown if their jobs help Artemis missions.
SpaceX and Blue Origin didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s requests for remark.