Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy said on Monday that he would open contracts to other companies as Elon Musk's SpaceX is "behind" its schedule on the Artemis 3 mission to return the United States to the moon.
"We're not going to wait for one company," Duffy said in an interview Monday. "We're going to push the process and go back to the moon and build a camp, a base."
SpaceX is one of many contractors participating in NASA's Artemis mission, which aims to establish "the first long-term presence on the moon" and prepare for missions to Mars. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are also backing the mission.
SpaceX won a contract in 2021 to provide the Human Landing System (HLS) for astronauts on the Artemis 3 mission.
In December last year, NASA announced that it would postpone the Artemis 3 mission to April 2026 and postpone the trip of two astronauts to land in the south pole region of the moon until 2027.
Duffy said on Monday that he believes next April's launch could happen in early February and that the agency is looking to work with two potential companies "to return to the moon in 2028." Duffy highlighted Blue Origin as a potential competitor.
"They pushed back the timeline," Duffy said of SpaceX. "President (Trump) and I want to go to the moon during our presidency, so I'm going to open the contract."
Duffy also posted on the social platform
Musk commented: "Blue Origin has never put a payload into orbit, let alone the moon." He later added: "A useful payload."
"Competition is good, but it seems silly to imagine anyone can get us there faster than SpaceX," one netizen wrote.
Musk responded: "They won't. Compared to other companies in the aerospace industry, SpaceX is progressing at a lightning speed. Additionally, Starship will eventually complete the entire moon mission. Mark my words."
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