NASA looks to SpaceX, Blue Origin for moon landingsAFP, WASHINGTONWith Artemis II successfully completing its historic lunar mission on Friday, NASA is banking on billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk for the next step: landing astronauts on the moon. For the second phase of its mission, the space agency is looking to commercial landers designed by Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin to get its astronauts on the moon. The Apollo program relied on a single rocket, the Saturn V, which carried the lunar lander and the capsule carrying the astronauts. With that in mind, NASA raised the possibility of reopening the contract awarded to SpaceX and using Blue Origin’s lunar lander first, sending shockwaves through the rival companies. Before that, companies would need to test in-orbit refueling and send an unmanned lunar lander to the moon to demonstrate its safety.

Source: Taipei Times April 11, 2026 20:18 UTC