NASA to reopen Artemis III lunar lander competition to keep schedule

NASA said Monday it will reopen competition for the lunar lander contract for the Artemis III mission, the agency's effort to return astronauts to the Moon, citing schedule concerns with the vehicle currently under contract. Acting NASA administrator and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the agency is "in the process of opening that contract up" and expects other U.S. companies to compete to ensure the United States stays on track to land astronauts near the lunar south pole in the coming years.

Duffy’s announcement follows recent progress by the contractor, which conducted a mostly successful flight test of its large Starship vehicle last week. The test, flown from Texas, placed mock payloads and evaluated heat shield tiles before the vehicle landed in the Indian Ocean. In a social media post, Duffy congratulated the team and called the flight "another major step toward landing Americans on the Moon's south pole." Space industry officials have said further upgrades to Starship are planned to support long-duration crewed missions.

SpaceX won the Human Landing System award in 2021 to develop a Starship-based lander for Artemis III, a mission NASA has scheduled to attempt a...