Transportation Secretary and Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy speaks during an August 5 news conference at the Department of Transportation in Washington.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

NASA may sideline SpaceX and choose a different company to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade, acting space agency chief Sean Duffy suggested during TV appearances Monday.

Duffy emphasized that he believes SpaceX, which has a $2.9 billion contract to provide the lunar lander astronauts would ride to the moon’s surface, is lagging behind schedule, potentially thwarting NASA’s efforts to return humans to the moon before China amid a new space race.

“They push their timelines out, and we’re in a race against China,” Duffy told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday morning, referring to SpaceX’s development of Starship — the vehicle the company plans to use as a lunar lander for NASA. “So, I’m going to open up the contract. I’m going to let other space companies compete with SpaceX.”

If NASA were to cancel or amend its contract with SpaceX, it could signal a remarkable reversal of a plan the space agency has had in place since 2021. That’s when NASA chose Starship — which is still in the early stages of development and has racked up three in-flight failures and a couple successful suborbital test flights so far in 2025 — to serve as lunar lander during the historic moon landing mission, called Artemis III.

Duffy’s remarks on Monday come as that 2021 decision is facing new scrutiny from space industry leaders who are concerned that the logistics involved with using SpaceX’s Starship are too complex and may cause NASA to lose the new moon race, as CNN previously reported. The Artemis III moon-landing mission is currently set to take place as soon as mid-2027.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment on Duffy’s remarks.

What could happen next

The exact timeline for NASA to potentially alter its deal with SpaceX or bring on a new contractor was not immediately clear. In a separate interview on Monday with Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” Duffy said he’s “in the process of opening that contract up,” referring to the Artemis lunar lander agreement.

NASA already has two different companies contracted to provide lunar landers: SpaceX with its Starship vehicle, and Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, which is developing a lander called Blue Moon.

It is Starship, however, that is slated to fly the Artemis III mission in 2027, which would mark the first time astronauts have set foot on the lunar surface since the Apollo program concluded five decades ago. (Blue Origin, which received its NASA contract in 2023, is looking to use Blue Moon to complete Artemis missions later in the program, such as Artemis V.)

In a statement, NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens said that the space agency gave SpaceX and Blue Origin until October 29 to present “acceleration approaches” for lunar lander development.

“NASA is also going to request plans from the entire commercial space industry – through an RFI (or Request for Information) – for how NASA can increase the cadence of our mission to the Moon,” the statement reads. “President Trump and Secretary Duffy have a mission to beat China back to the Moon. That’s why they are harnessing the power of the American space industry and seeking solutions to develop more ways to land on the Moon.”

The timeline of Artemis III has been the focus of hawkish lawmakers concerned that the landing will not occur before taikonauts — or Chinese astronauts — reach the moon. China has said it will accomplish that feat by 2030.

In his remarks to CNBC, Duffy suggested it could be Blue Origin that takes over SpaceX’s position in the Artemis III mission.

In response to CNN’s request for comment regarding Duffy’s remarks, Blue Origin said only that it is “ready to support.”

However, Duffy also warned that NASA may opt to open up the competition more broadly to providers that do not yet have contracts.

“If SpaceX is behind, but Blue Origin can do it before them, good on Blue Origin,” Duffy said. “But … we’re not going to wait for one company. We’re going to push this forward and win the second space race against the Chinese.”

It’s unclear if NASA’s plans to issue a RFI will result in any new companies securing contracts. In government contracting parlance, RFIs are typically considered part of an informal fact-finding process whereas Requests for Proposals, or RFPs, are a more formal solicitation.

Space industry experts have expressed concerns about the timelines for both SpaceX’s Starship and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon, noting that the vehicles are complex and may need to be refueled in orbit.

In-orbit refueling has never been attempted, the experts noted, and lunar landers requiring such a step could require prohibitively long development timelines.

It’s not clear what other US companies may be in a position to join SpaceX and Blue Origin in competing for NASA Artemis contracts.

Dynetics, an aerospace company based in Alabama, was among the companies that originally bid for a lunar lander contract alongside Blue Origin and SpaceX. Dynetics did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Monday.