NASA reopens lunar lander competition amid SpaceX delays

Acting NASA administrator and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced this week that the agency will reopen competition for the next crewed lunar lander after concluding that SpaceX is behind schedule on the system intended to carry astronauts to the moon. Duffy said the move is aimed at accelerating a return to the lunar surface and meeting a presidential priority to land before Jan. 20, 2029, and he named other firms, including Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin, as potential competitors for the program.

Duffy told interviewers that SpaceX, which holds the 2021 contract to build the Human Landing System for the Artemis III mission, has pushed its timelines out and that NASA will accept proposals from additional companies to ensure the United States reaches the moon first in a perceived competition with China. He said the administration wants a lander developed and flown within a compressed timeframe, a schedule that officials acknowledge could add billions of dollars to program costs.

SpaceX’s chief executive, Elon Musk, responded on his social media account with a series of posts sharply criticizing Duffy. Musk called Duffy “Sean Dummy,” said “The person responsible for...