Questions surround NASA’s push for Starship alternatives

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Earlier this week, NASA acting Administrator Sean Duffy said that the U.S. space agency is considering Blue Origin and other companies to handle the task of sending people to the moon for the Artemis III mission.

The Trump administration’s goal is to reach the lunar surface before China and before the end of the president’s term in 2028.

Duffy says that the U.S. cannot wait for SpaceX since it has seen delays with its Starship, which is a Human Launch System (HLS) vehicle.

Companies like Blue Origin have developed a lunar lander, but Don Platt, Director of Florida Tech’s Spaceport Education Center, raises the question if other companies can produce results any quicker.

“Competition is a good thing, the question is though will it be any faster with anybody else, especially anybody besides Blue Origin, which of course has already been developing a lunar lander,” said Platt. “If you go with another company it’s probably going to take at least as long as getting Starship up to speed with their test system and be ready for lunar related missions.”

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has not minced words about his feelings on the situation, taking shots on Wednesday at Duffy.

“Having a NASA Administrator who knows literally ZERO about rockets & spacecraft undermines the American space program and endangers our astronauts,” Musk said in an X post.

In a reply to Duffy’s announcement that NASA is considering other agencies on Monday, Musk also posted on X that “SpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry.”

“Starship will end up doing the whole moon mission, mark my words,” Musk continued in the post.

In the last two test flights, SpaceX has been pleased with Starship’s results during those launches, with the latest one, test 11, happening last week.

However, SpaceX has seen three failed test flights this year in test flights 07, 08, and 09.

U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos, a Republican who represents Florida’s Space Coast, spoke to Duffy this week. Haridopolos said that it was important for NASA to land on the moon before China. The country plans to land its citizens on the moon in 2030.

“We want to make sure we make it back to the moon and land on the moon before the Chinese,” Haridopolos said. “My conversation with the secretary — he said, ‘What better way to accelerate this quickly is to have more competition?’”

Haridopolos says the moon missions are not just about exploration, they’re about national security.

“The thing about the United States, is that despite our efforts going all the way back to 1969, we have always seen this as a humanitarian mission, we don’t have the same confidence with the Chinese, given their unique or nefarious actions up in space, we want to make sure the United States stays space dominant,” he said.

Blue Origin’s Blue Moon is slated for the Artemis V mission, which originally was going to be the lunar lander’s first crewed flight, stated NASA.

A Blue Origin spokesperson said earlier this week, “Blue Origin is ready to support.”