NASA’s Boss Just Shook Up the Agency’s Plans to Land on the Moon

Duffy also cites “maybe others” getting involved. This refers to a third option. In recent weeks, officials from traditional space companies have been telling Duffy and the chief of staff at the Department of Transportation, Pete Meachum, that they can build an Apollo Lunar Module–like lander within 30 months. Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s associate administrator, favors this government-led approach, sources said.

On Monday, in a statement to Ars, a Lockheed Martin official confirmed that the company was ready if NASA called upon them.

“Throughout this year, Lockheed Martin has been performing significant technical and programmatic analysis for human lunar landers that would provide options to NASA for a safe solution to return humans to the moon as quickly as possible,” said Bob Behnken, vice president of exploration and technology strategy at Lockheed Martin Space. “We have been working with a cross-industry team of companies, and together we are looking forward to addressing Secretary Duffy’s request to meet our country’s lunar objectives.”

NASA would not easily be able to rip up its existing human lander system contracts with SpaceX and Blue Origin, as, especially with the former, much of the funding has already been awarded for milestone payments. Rather, Duffy would likely have to find new funding from Congress. And it would not be cheap. This NASA analysis from 2017 estimates that a cost-plus, sole-source lunar lander would cost $20 billion to $30 billion, or nearly 10 times what NASA awarded to SpaceX in 2021.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk, responding to Duffy’s comments, seemed to relish the challenge posed by industry competitors.

“SpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry,” Musk said on the social media site he owns, X. “Moreover, Starship will end up doing the whole moon mission. Mark my words.”

The Timing

Duffy’s remarks on television on Monday morning, although significant for the broader space community, also seemed intended for an audience of one—President Trump.

The president appointed Duffy, already leading the Department of Transportation, to lead NASA on an interim basis in July. This came six weeks after the president, for political reasons, rescinded his nomination of billionaire and private astronaut Jared Isaacman to lead the space agency.