SpaceX accelerates moon mission after NASA criticism

American aerospace company SpaceX has presented an updated, "simplified" plan for its lunar mission, aimed at shortening preparation time and improving crew safety. The move comes in response to NASA’s growing concerns over delays in the development of Starship, the key vehicle for the Artemis lunar program.

"We’ve shared and are formally assessing a simplified mission architecture and concept of operations that we believe will result in a faster return to the moon while simultaneously improving crew safety," SpaceX wrote.

The new strategy was published on the company’s website, though technical details and flight sequence changes were not disclosed.

Conflict with NASA

The announcement came less than two weeks after NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy signaled plans to open the SpaceX contract to competition, allowing other aerospace firms to submit proposals for the lunar lander.

The move follows repeated delays in Starship’s testing phase, the fully reusable rocket intended to play a central role in Artemis III, which will mark the first American crewed Moon landing in over 50 years.

Between 2024 and 2025, the Starship program faced a string of setbacks:

• Two rockets exploded during flight tests;

• Another engine test ended in failure;

• The company has yet to demonstrate the crucial in-orbit refueling capability needed for lunar missions.

$4 billion 'road to the Moon'

SpaceX’s contract with NASA, valued at over $4 billion, covers development of the Starship Human Landing System (HLS), the spacecraft designed to transport astronauts to the lunar surface and return them to orbit.

In response to NASA’s criticism, Elon Musk lashed out at Duffy on social media, even calling for his resignation.

SpaceX insists Starship remains fastest way back to Moon

Despite simplifying the mission framework, SpaceX maintains that Starship remains the most efficient and scalable path to human lunar return.

"Starship continues to simultaneously be the fastest path to returning humans to the surface of the Moon and a core enabler of the Artemis program’s goal to establish a permanent, sustainable presence on the lunar surface," SpaceX wrote.

Engineers are now developing the crew cabin, which will form the core of upcoming flight tests.

Artemis III ambitions and competition from Blue Origin

NASA’s Artemis III mission aims to return astronauts to the Moon by the end of the decade, but persistent delays from both SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin, which holds a rival lunar lander contract, threaten to push the schedule beyond 2028.

In the broader space race between the United States and China, which is rapidly expanding its own lunar program, every setback carries political and strategic weight.

While SpaceX claims to have found a faster path forward, its success now hinges on the next Starship test flight, a mission that could determine whether Elon Musk’s project truly brings humanity back to the Moon.