Artemis Program & Lunar Landing Competition - NASA is opening up the Artemis 3 lunar landing contract held by SpaceX to other American companies due to SpaceX's delays [1] - The goal is to accelerate the return to the moon, driven by competition with China and the current presidential term's objectives [1] - Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin are potential competitors, with Blue Origin already having a contract for the Artemis 5 mission [1] SpaceX's Status & Response - NASA acknowledges that SpaceX's Starship lunar lander is behind schedule, potentially delaying the Artemis 3 mission beyond 2027 [1] - Elon Musk remains confident, stating SpaceX is moving faster than the rest of the space industry and will ultimately handle the entire moon mission [1][2] NASA's Actions & Timeline - NASA has requested accelerated proposals from SpaceX and Blue Origin by October 29th [1] - NASA will also seek broader information from the commercial space sector to increase the overall cadence of lunar missions [1] Mission Objectives - The Artemis 3 mission aims to land the first woman and the next man on the moon, marking the return to the lunar surface since 1972 [2]
Did NASA Just Cancel Starship?
The Launch Pad·2025-10-22 01:11