NASA has confirmed that it has received and is reviewing accelerated lunar mission plans from SpaceX and Blue Origin, in an effort to outpace China’s lunar ambitions. The space agency has formed a committee of subject matter experts to determine the best path to win the second lunar race.
The space agency now suggests the lunar landing timeline could be accelerated to fit within President Donald Trump’s term, ideally before 2028. The confirmation comes just days after NASA’s acting chief Sean Duffy slammed SpaceX for repeated delays and explosions during Starship moon lander tests. He also threatened to pass the $4 billion contract to Blue Origin, among other American companies.
Cryptopolitan recently reported that NASA doubts SpaceX’s ability to complete the lunar mission within the scheduled timeline. The Artemis II mission, which aims to launch astronauts for a trial run around the moon, is scheduled for next year, highlighting NASA’s urgency.
SpaceX says it is working on a simplified mission architecture
In a lengthy blog article published on October 30, SpaceX revealed that its engineers are working on a simplified mission architecture to fulfill the key role of landing humans on the moon in more than half a century. Elon Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor said it has shared and is formally assessing the concept of operations that will return man to the moon faster and safer.
The updated design features direct orbital refueling, over 1,000 cubic meters of habitable space, and a payload capacity of up to 100 tons. SpaceX aims to establish a permanent human presence on the moon’s surface, not just footprints and flags, ultimately paving the way for a path to Mars.
Meanwhile, Duffy had previously complained that SpaceX is falling behind the U.S. timeline to return to the moon with Artemis, adding that the agency will not wait for a single company to catch up. He emphasized that NASA will continue to push forward and win the second space race against China, highlighting Blue Origin as likely to take over.
“They push their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China…The president and I want to get to the moon in this president’s term, so I’m going to open up the contracts.”
–Sean Duffy, Acting Administrator at NASA
However, Musk dismissed Duffy’s criticism, claiming the person responsible for America’s space program cannot have a 2-digit IQ. He also responded to the NASA executive, claiming Blue Origin has never delivered any useful payload to orbit, let alone the Moon.
Shotwell says she cannot wait to go to the moon
The President and COO of SpaceX, Gwynne Shotwell, said earlier today that she cannot wait to go to the moon. Her remarks came as her company claimed to have maximized real-world testing throughout the Starship development process to demonstrate capabilities and identify areas for improvement, or prove out solutions.
SpaceX clarified that it has self-funded up to 90% of system costs and development of the HLS-specific Starship. The company also disclosed that it is working under a fixed-price contract with NASA, ensuring that it is only paid based on delivered milestones.
To date, SpaceX has produced nearly 600 Raptor rocket engines, with more than 226,000 seconds of run time on the Raptor 2 engine and over 40,000 seconds on the Raptor 3 engine. It has also produced over three dozen Starships.
The aerospace and defense contractor claims there have been 11 Starship-only flight tests and 11 generated flight tests of Super Heavy and Starship. It has constructed and continues to construct new Starship launch, production, integration, and test facilities in Texas, Florida, and California.
The private investment of billions of dollars is creating over five million square feet of manufacturing and integration space, multiple Raptor test stands, and five launch pads across Florida and Texas. SpaceX says all will be engineered to ramp Starship’s launch cadence above and beyond what was achieved by its Falcon program.
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/spacex-and-blue-origin-pitch-nasa/