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NASA opens Artemis 3 contract to competition amid SpaceX

delays

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Duffy cites need to beat China to moon by 2029

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Artemis 2 on track, may launch earlier than planned

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Blue Origin and others may join Artemis 3 bidding, Duffy

suggests

WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - NASA's top official on

Monday said the U.S. space agency was opening up the contract

for its Artemis 3 moon mission to compete against SpaceX, which

he said was running behind schedule.

"I'm in the process of opening that contract up. I think

we'll see companies like Blue get involved, and maybe others,"

NASA administrator Sean Duffy, who also serves as U.S.

Transportation secretary, told Fox News' "Fox & Friends"

program. Blue Origin is a SpaceX rival founded by Jeff Bezos.

"We're going to have a space race in regard to American

companies competing to see who can actually get us back to the

moon first."

NASA's multibillion dollar Artemis series of missions are aimed

at returning humans to the moon as China plans a 2030 astronaut

moon landing. Artemis 3 has been planned for 2027 with SpaceX's

Starship.

But Duffy said billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX was not on

schedule and could put the United States behind its rival, with

U.S. President Trump wanting to see the mission take place

before his White House term ends in January 2029.

"They're behind schedule, and so the president wants to make

sure we beat the Chinese," Duffy told Fox.

Artemis 2, a 10-day flight around the moon and back

involving systems built by built by Boeing ( BA ), Northrop

Grumman ( NOC ) and Lockheed Martin ( LMT ), is on track for

April and could get moved up to February, he added.

Bezos and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp reportedly spoke with Trump

over the summer when the Republican president was feuding with

Musk, who backed Trump in the 2024 election and went on to lead

the broad effort to cut the federal government known as DOGE.

Representatives for SpaceX and Blue Origin could not be

immediately reached for comment.