NASA reopens competition for Artemis lunar lander contract

[Buster's Uncle]

NASA reopens competition for Artemis lunar lander contract
Brooke Edwards, Florida Today
Florida Today
Mon, October 20, 2025 at 1:13 PM EDT
5 min read





(This story has been updated with the latest information, including comment from Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin and updated comment from Elon Musk.)

With NASA rushing to land astronauts on the moon as soon as 2027 in a race to beat China, the space agency said it's reopening the competition to find the spacecraft that will return American astronauts to the lunar surface.

SpaceX’s Starship currently holds a $4.4 billion contract to act as a human lander for NASA's Artemis III return to the moon mission — however, Starship has yet to fly a full mission.

“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," NASA's Acting Administrator Sean Duffy said in an X post on Oct. 22. "SpaceX has the contract to build the HLS which will get U.S. astronauts there on Artemis III. But, competition and innovation are the keys to our dominance in space so NASA is opening up HLS production to Blue Origin and other great American companies.”

Dring an interview on Fox News, he specifically referenced Blue Origin's Mark 1 lander.

The announcement drew an immediate response from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has made Starship the centerpiece of his bid to eventually send people to Mars and turn humanity into a multi-planetary species.

"SpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry," Musk wrote on social media site X, which he owns, in a reply to a user. "Moreover, Starship will end up doing the whole Moon mission. Mark my words."

The decision to re-open the competition was welcomed by Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin.

"Blue Origin is ready to support," a Blue Origin spokesperson told FLORIDA TODAY.

Blue Origin's multistage New Glenn rocket is set to launch NASA's ESCAPADE mission to Mars as early as next month, with the rocket and payload already heading for the Cape Canaveral launch pad. It will be the company's second launch of its New Glenn — the first, which launched in Janunary 2025, delievering a mockup of its Blue Ring to orbit.

Blue Origin's Mark 1 lunar lander, meanwhile, is currently contracted to deliver NASA's VIPER rover to the moon in 2027. The lander is also already contracted to serve future Artemis moon landing missions.

Lockheed Martin, which also engineers the Orion spacecraft, is in the process of developing lander technology as well. The company provided FLORIDA TODAY with the following statement from Bob Behnken, VP of Exploration and Technology Strategy at Lockheed Martin Space:

“Throughout this year, Lockheed Martin has been performing significant technical and programmatic analysis for human lunar landers that would provide options to NASA for a safe solution to return humans to the Moon as quickly as possible. 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."


Other space companies see opportunity

The announcement from Duffy came as NASA is racing to meet its goal of the next Artemis launch, Artemis II around the moon as early as February 2026. The Orion spacecraft that will carry the crew rolled into Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building just last week to begin preparations for its launch.

SpaceX's Starship has seen many setbacks, including the loss of the ship during multiple flights earlier this year — including the March 6 flight mishap, visible in the Florida sky as the ship broke apart less than 10 minutes into flight. SpaceX has stated that these are test flights and it's purposefully putting stress on the ship, including removing multiple heat shield tiles, to test certain areas. However, the intention was not to lose the ship on those flights.

Starship finally got back on track during its September Flight 10, which saw the ship reach all set objectives, including a mostly intact splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

But NASA still doesn't have proof that the lander would work. For example, Starship still needs to demonstrate it can dock to the Orion spacecraft and land astronauts safely on the lunar surface.

Pending final environmental impact statements from the Federal Aviation Administration and Space Force, SpaceX intends to bring Starship to NASA’s Kennedy Space Cener for launches from Pad 39A. Meanwhile, NASA’s SLS rocket with the Orion spacecraft also will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Pad 39B.

It is worth noting that NASA has had setbacks as well with its Artemis Program, notably the heatshield of the Orion spacecraft not performing as expected during the 2022 uncrewed Artemis I mission. This has led to multiple delays to the planned Artemis II mission, which will see a crew of four fly around the moon to test the spacecraft before the planned 2027 Artemis III moon landing.

Artemis III would mark the first time humans have visited the moon since the 1972 Apollo 17 mission.

Inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, the SLS rocket (Space Launch System) is stacked and awaiting the addition of the Orion spacecraft. Even during the current government shutdown, the Artemis Program was deemed necessary, and all employees on the program are reporting for duty.

If all continues to go as planned, the SLS rocket will roll out in the coming months, with a possible liftoff as soon as February.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/nasas-chosen-lander-spacexs-starship-171305583.html