SpaceX, Blue Origin Share New Lunar Landing Profiles

Companies are competing for the recently reopened contract to land NASA astronauts on the moon.

Jack Daleo

Saturday, November 01, 2025 at 10:30 AM ET

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Jack Daleo

An artist’s concept depicts SpaceX’s Starship human landing system (HLS) on the lunar surface. [Courtesy: SpaceX]

Key Takeaways:

NASA's Artemis III mission to the moon is facing delays, with the agency still finalizing the human landing system (HLS) and considering proposals.
The HLS contract, initially largely awarded to SpaceX, is being reopened to broader industry bids due to SpaceX falling behind schedule on its Starship development.
Both SpaceX and Blue Origin have submitted revised landing architectures to potentially accelerate the Artemis III timeline, with NASA set to evaluate these and other forthcoming proposals.
A critical development for SpaceX's Starship HLS is the orbital propellant transfer demonstration, now targeted for 2026, which is essential for the vehicle's lunar mission capability.

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With NASA’s first lunar landing since the Apollo era only a few years away, the space agency has yet to determine exactly how its astronauts will reach the moon.

On Thursday, a NASA spokesperson told CNBC that both Blue Origin and SpaceX—which has been developing its Starship human landing system (HLS) for the mission, Artemis III, since 2023—have submitted revised landing architectures that could accelerate the agency’s timeline.