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 lunar landing mission faces delays, prompting the agency to reopen the Human Landing System (HLS) contract and consider revised proposals from both original contractor SpaceX and competitor Blue Origin.
SpaceX is behind schedule on developing its Starship HLS, particularly needing to demonstrate crucial orbital propellant transfer by 2026, which is pushing the Artemis III timeline further out.
Blue Origin has submitted revised plans for Artemis III, positioning itself as a strong alternative given SpaceX's delays, despite having fewer flight tests for its integrated Blue Moon system.
Both companies' proposed HLS architectures require complex orbital propellant transfer and refueling operations, adding significant technical challenges and contributing to the mission's uncertain launch date, now expected later than initially forecast.

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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.