Elon Musk’s SpaceX has unveiled a new lunar mission strategy amid criticism from NASA over delays in the development of the Starship rocket. This is reported by Bloomberg.
The American company SpaceX has unveiled an updated, “simplified” mission plan for the moon, designed to reduce training times and improve crew safety. This came amid concerns from NASA, which expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of development of the Starship system, a key element of the Artemis program.
“We have shared and are formally evaluating a simplified mission architecture that we believe will provide a faster return of humans to the Moon while increasing the level of crew safety,” — SpaceX said in a statement.
The company published the updated plan on its website, but did not disclose details about the technical changes or flight sequence. This update comes less than two weeks after NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy announced his intention to open the SpaceX contract to competition — that is, to allow other companies to submit their own proposals for the creation of a lunar lander.
The reason for this decision was delays in testing Starship, a reusable rocket that plays a key role in the Artemis III mission, which will be the first return of American astronauts to the moon in more than half a century.
The contract between SpaceX and NASA is valued at more than $ 4 billion and involves the development of the Starship HLS (Human Landing System) lander, which is supposed to deliver the crew to the lunar surface and return it to orbit. In response to pressure from NASA, Elon Musk sharply criticized Sean Duffy on social media and even called for his resignation.
Despite the mission simplification, the company says Starship remains the most effective tool for returning humans to the Moon.
“Starship continues to be the fastest path to returning humans to the Moon and a key element of the Artemis program, which aims to create a permanent, sustainable human presence on the moon’s surface,” SpaceX said.
The company’s engineers are already working on creating a crew cabin, which will be a key component for the next stages of testing. The Artemis III program remains NASA’s ambitious attempt to return humans to the Moon by the end of the decade, but delays from contractors, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, have cast doubt on the plan’s 2028 deadline.
