US EditionNASA Threatens to Pull SpaceX's Artemis III Contract, Re-Open Competition
NASA reopens Artemis III lander contract due to SpaceX delays and aims to boost competition amid concerns over falling behind China, with a $2.89 billion initial contract awarded in 2021.
- Sean Duffy, acting NASA administrator, announced he will reopen the Artemis III HLS contract to allow companies like Blue Origin to compete, according to a report.
- SpaceX won the 2021 HLS contract to develop a lunar lander, but development has been delayed, and NASA officials argue that SpaceX has missed key deadlines.
- Artemis III is scheduled for mid-2027 and NASA Space Launch System rocket will lift four astronauts to Orion, with two transferring to the Starship HLS for lunar descent.
- Analysts warn that reopening the contract could add "tens of billions of dollars" to costs and delay the Artemis III timeline beyond the mid-2027 target toward 2029.
- Chinese officials' 2030 lunar goal has prompted urgency as U.S. space budget spends about 0.3-something percent of federal funds, limiting resources for the Artemis program.
18 Articles
18 Articles
The delays accumulated by SpaceX weigh on the space agency's calendar in the race with China to return to the Moon.
The Director General of SpaceX, Elon Musk, launched a direct attack on NASA's interim administrator, Sean Duffy, after he later declared that SpaceX is at risk of losing his contract with NASA for the mission of Artemis 3 - which aims to return the American astronomers to the Moon after the time of the Apollo missions - due to delays in leaving this programme, transmits to the NBC Wednesdays.
The landing ferry of SpaceX is not expected to be ready in time to land on the moon in 2027, forcing the Nasa to turn back.
SpaceX Loses Guarantee of First Moon Landing
Up until Oct. 20, the return of NASA astronauts to the lunar surface was set to be carried out by a variant of SpaceX’s Starship upper stage. Now, according to Acting Administrator of NASA Sean Duffy, that may not be the case. Elon Musk’s behemoth rocket still has not conducted a successful mission into low Earth orbit, sparking some doubt about whether or not its human landing spacecraft would be ready in time for Artemis III, a planned moon la…
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