NASA acting administrator says SpaceX is 'behind schedule' on moon-landing contract, so he's reopening it

The space race is on — but this time it will be between American rocket companies.

Sean Duffy, the acting NASA administrator, said in a Monday interview on "Fox & Friends" that Elon Musk's SpaceX is "behind schedule" on the Artemis III project, the mission that plans to land NASA astronauts back on the moon.

SpaceX, which Duffy said was an "amazing company" that does "remarkable things," dominates the space rocket industry and has become one of the most valuable private companies in the world, alongside OpenAI. Meanwhile, a crop of other rocket companies from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to Rocket Lab seeks to gain ground.

"I'm in the process of opening that contract up. I think we'll see companies like Blue get involved, and maybe others," Duffy said, referencing Jeff Bezos' rocket company Blue Origin. "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."

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

NASA hopes to complete the mission between one and a half to two years from now, before the end of President Donald Trump's term, Duffy said. He added that the president is focused on beating China back to the moon, and thinks the competition will help ensure NASA meets that goal. Other companies currently supporting the overall Artemis mission include Blue Origin, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin.

"A little COMPETITION doesn't hurt and it spurs INNOVATION!" Duffy wrote in a post on X on Monday.

"We going to beat China there and we are going to do it under @POTUS!" he added.

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