NASA to reopen Artemis 3 HLS contract

U.S. Transportation Secretary and interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy delivers remarks throughout a press convention at Newark Liberty Worldwide Airport (KEWR) on October 6. Credit score: C-SPAN

U.S. Transportation Secretary and interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy on Monday revealed a doubtlessly seismic shakeup to the company’s Artemis lunar touchdown program.

Throughout an interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernen on Squawk Field Monday morning, Duffy stated NASA will reopen a contract to construct the human touchdown system (HLS) for the Artemis 3 mission, which is able to put American astronauts on the moon for the primary time for the reason that Apollo period.

The contract was initially awarded to SpaceX, which Duffy described as an “superb firm.” However he expressed concern that its Starship HLS received’t be prepared in time for the mission, suggesting Blue Origin or one other competitor may step as much as the plate.

“The issue is that they’re behind,” Duffy stated. “They pushed their timelines out, and we’re in a race towards China. The president and I wish to get to the moon on this president’s time period.”

President Donald Trump’s second time period concludes in January 2029, suggesting that Duffy and NASA leaders could have considerations in regards to the mid-2027 timeline set for Artemis 3 in December 2024. Duffy on Monday stated the Artemis 2 mission — which is able to fly across the moon with crew however skip the touchdown — may launch as quickly as February. He added that Artemis 3 would fly “a pair years after that.”

Per a June 2024 Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO) report, NASA internally predicts with 70 p.c confidence that the Starship HLS will probably be able to fly by February 2028. It has not publicly revised its mid-2027 goal.

SpaceX’s current take a look at flights of the gargantuan Starship rocket, round which the HLS is predicated, have proven promise after a collection of explosions earlier in 2025. However the car should nonetheless obtain a number of milestones — together with an uncrewed lunar touchdown demonstration — earlier than it’s human-rated. Based on Payload Professional, NASA has already paid SpaceX 65 p.c of the roughly $4 billion it has received for HLS work.

“No matter one can get us there first, to the moon, we’re going to take,” Duffy stated. “And if SpaceX is behind, however Blue Origin can do it earlier than them, good on Blue Origin … We’re not going to attend for one firm.”

How we’ll get there

NASA doesn’t possess a car that’s licensed for human missions to the moon. To acquire one, it has enlisted the non-public sector.

SpaceX is predicted to offer the HLS for Artemis 3 and Artemis 4. Blue Origin has additionally acquired billions of {dollars} to develop its Blue Moon lander, which is slated to debut on Artemis 5. Different Artemis contractors embody Boeing, which is constructing a portion of NASA’s House Launch System (SLS), and Lockheed Martin, the lead contractor for NASA’s Orion capsule.

SLS and Orion will transport 4 astronauts to lunar orbit. There, they are going to dock with the HLS, which might additionally function a crew base on the moon. The lander will should be able to braving the cruel lunar south pole, the place temperatures can plunge beneath minus-200 levels Fahrenheit. Researchers imagine the area could harbor water ice or different supplies that would elucidate the moon’s historical past.

Trials and tribulations

SpaceX has some work to do with a view to put together the Starship HLS for Artemis 3.

For one, it might want to reveal that it might really attain the moon. Regardless of its huge measurement, Starship doesn’t carry sufficient propellant to make it in a single go. As a substitute, it’ll cease at an orbital gasoline depot to reload propellant earlier than persevering with its journey. Such a maneuver has by no means been achieved.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in August predicted that the corporate would reveal propellant switch between ships by subsequent yr. After that, a collection of Starship tanker missions will inventory the orbital depot. Finishing these aims on schedule would require SpaceX to ramp up the launch cadence of Starship, which is supposed to be reusable. The corporate has already caught and reflown Tremendous Heavy boosters however has but to attain the feat with Starship itself.

As soon as the orbital depot is up and operating, SpaceX may also be required to finish an uncrewed lunar touchdown demonstration. It beforehand predicted that will happen in 2024 or 2025.

SpaceX made regular progress on Starship in 2023 and 2024, with every take a look at flight reaching greater than the final. Issues arose with the introduction of the extra highly effective Starship Model 2 (V2), which exploded on the best way up throughout consecutive flights in January and March. The rocket made it farther on its following flight in Might however nonetheless did not hit key aims. Then, in June, one other V2 Starship exploded on the take a look at stand.

SpaceX printed a prolonged dissection of those incidents forward of Flight 10 in August, making adjustments to enhance the car’s reliability. They seem to have been efficient, with Flights 10 and 11 making it to splashdown and offering important information on the ship’s warmth defend.

The latter flight in October is predicted to be Starship V2’s final. Subsequent yr, SpaceX plans to introduce Model 3 (V3), which is billed as yet one more main improve. V3 will introduce bigger propellant tanks, improved Raptor engines, and the next payload capability than NASA’s Saturn V. It’s anticipated to hold out the car’s first orbital exams and operations — together with the propellant switch demonstration.

Notably, Duffy’s choice to reopen the Artemis 3 HLS competitors coincides with reports that Trump is contemplating a renewed NASA chief nomination for Jared Isaacman — the non-public astronaut and SpaceX ally whom the White Home surprisingly faraway from consideration in June. Isaacman has bought 4 non-public missions from SpaceX and flown on two.

Pushing ahead

Duffy on Monday made clear that the White Home views Artemis as a precedence, with China planning its personal moon touchdown in 2030.

“We’re going to push this ahead and win the second house race towards the Chinese language, get again to the moon, arrange a camp, a base, and from there, we’re going to determine how we will really get to Mars,” he stated.

The positioning of Artemis as a stepping stone to Mars aligns with Trump’s public remarks and the White Home’s fiscal yr 2026 price range request. Trump in his inaugural tackle, for instance, invoked Mars however didn’t point out the moon. The price range, in the meantime, would add $647 million to fund human house exploration on the expense of science missions, corresponding to Mars Pattern Return or analyses of Earth’s ambiance.

“There’s a number of companies that may take care of local weather,” Duffy stated Monday. “There’s just one that does human house exploration, and that’s NASA. And that’s what we’ve refocused on.”

The requested minimize of about 24 p.c of NASA’s top-line funding would characterize the biggest single-year discount within the house company’s historical past, per The Planetary Society. Some house business stakeholders — together with Mars exploration advocates — have warned that the cuts to science applications may hinder exploration initiatives like Artemis.