As China makes significant progress toward a 2030 Moon landing, NASA is growing restless. Recent setbacks in the development of NASA’s chosen lunar lander—SpaceX’s Starship—have agency leaders eyeing alternative options. In 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to provide the first crewed lunar lander for the agency’s Artemis program. The lander—a modified version of Starship’s upper stage—is supposed to land astronauts on the Moon for the first time on the Artemis 3 mission, slated to launch in mid-2027. But after Starship’s development veered off track this year, NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy said he plans to “open up the contract” to competitors.
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