US space agency NASA will restart the bidding process for its missions to the Moon, after delays SpaceXthe company of billionaire Elon Musk, a former close adviser to the president Donald Trumpannounced its interim commander and Minister of Transport Sean Duffy.

“We’re going to see a space race, in the sense of competition between American companies, to see who can get us back to the Moon first.” Duffy told Fox News. “I think (the tender) will involve companies like Blue and possibly others”he added.

OR Blue Originher competitor SpaceXis the space company of Amazon founder, the Jeff Bezos. He is currently tasked with the fifth mission of the ambitious Artemis program. This program was started during the first term of Trump, who aspires to get NASA back to the Moon as soon as possible and also go to Mars.

The company Lockheed Martin announced tonight that it is developing plans for a lunar probe that could fill NASA’s need for an alternative to its Starship SpaceX.

“I love SpaceX. They are an incredible company. The problem is that they are late (…) and we are competing with China”the minister added.

“The president and I want to return to the Moon during his term expiring in January 2029″explained the Duffy. And, in any case, before China, which estimates that it will be able to send its first manned mission by 2030 at the latest.

Pressure on NASA has intensified in recent months since Trump returned to the White House. “We need the best companies to move forward at a pace that will get us to the Moon first. Competition and innovation are the keys to our space dominance” commented on the platform X o Sean Duffy.

Several setbacks have delayed the manned Artémis 2 mission, which will take astronauts to the Moon, but not land on it. After being repeatedly postponed, the launch is now slated to take place in early 2026, by April at the latest, according to NASA. the crew, three American and one Canadian astronautswill be the first people after half a century which will make one revolution around the Earth’s natural satellite.

The Artémis 3 mission, which envisages the return of Americans to the surface of the Moon, is currently scheduled for mid-2027.