US Invites New Bids for Moon Mission as SpaceX Delays: NASA

AFP/APP

Washington: The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced plans to invite new bids for its Moon mission contract amid delays by SpaceX, the Elon Musk-led company currently leading the program.

NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said on Monday that the agency is seeking additional private sector participation to accelerate the Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon before China’s planned 2030 mission.

“We’re going to have a space race between American companies to see who can get us back to the Moon first,” Duffy told Fox News. “I’m in the process of opening that contract up. I think we’ll see companies like Blue [Origin] get involved, and maybe others.”

Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, is a major rival of SpaceX and already holds a contract for the fifth planned mission under the multibillion-dollar Artemis program.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/pakistans-hs-1-satellite-to-aid-climate-agriculture-goals/

“I love SpaceX — it’s an amazing company. The problem is, they’re behind,” Duffy said. “They’ve pushed their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China. The president and I want to get to the Moon within this presidential term, so I’m going to open up the contract.”

The Artemis program, first announced during Donald Trump’s initial term, is designed to reestablish a human presence on the Moon and pave the way for future Mars missions. However, repeated technical and scheduling setbacks have delayed progress, including the Artemis 2 mission — the first crewed flyby of the Moon in more than 50 years.

NASA now expects the Artemis 2 launch to take place in April 2026, possibly as early as February. The mission will carry three American astronauts and one Canadian.

“We intend to keep that commitment,” NASA’s senior official Lakiesha Hawkins said during a recent press briefing.

Duffy later emphasized on X (formerly Twitter) that the United States must move quickly to maintain its leadership in space exploration. 

“We’re in a race against China, so we need the best companies operating at a speed that gets us to the Moon first,” he said, adding that “competition and innovation are the keys to our dominance in space.”