NASA Reopens the Moon Race: America’s Push to Beat China?

NASA has announced plans to expand competition for its Artemis lunar program, inviting other American aerospace companies to join the race back to the Moon as SpaceX faces delays on its Starship landing system.

The move comes as NASA aims to accelerate its timeline and meet its goal of returning astronauts to the lunar surface by 2027, ahead of China’s target of 2030.

SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, remains part of the Artemis program but has struggled with repeated setbacks in developing Starship, the rocket designed to land crews on the Moon.

NASA’s interim administrator Sean Duffy said the agency “will not wait for one company,” confirming that rivals like Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman will now be invited to bid for key lunar contracts.

The next mission, Artemis II, which will carry astronauts around the Moon, has been moved up to February 2026. The decision marks a turning point for NASA’s partnership with private industry, shifting from reliance on SpaceX to broader competition aimed at maintaining U.S. leadership in the new space race against China.