SpaceX Delays Send NASA’s Moon Race Into Overdrive
When it comes to moonshots, even the best-laid plans seem to orbit chaos. NASA’s ambitious Artemis III mission, aiming for America’s first crewed lunar landing in over half a century, depends on a massive, intricate SpaceX Starship. But with delays piling up, NASA declared an all-out push to win the modern space race — with or without Elon Musk.
- Starship faced three explosions this year — its gargantuan size, excessive complexity, and unproven in-orbit refueling now lead to worries that the moon landing may slip from 2027 to 2032.
- With China aiming for a moon landing by 2030, NASA chief Sean Duffy announced, “We’re not going to wait for one company” — aiming to “win the second space race against the Chinese.”
Afterburners: While NASA’s Plan B specifically named Lockheed MartinLMT and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin as contenders, shares in Rocket LabRKLB, Intuitive MachinesLUNR, and KarmanKRMN rose on the news. On X, Musk declared his team “is moving like lightning,” while jabbing Blue Origin for never sending a payload to orbit. Still, experts warn a switch could cost billions and disrupt timetables — but if nothing else, liftoff just got a whole lot more interesting.