Two U.S. setbacks this week in the race to the moon with China illustrate the risks of NASA's plans to bet on a new strategy of relying heavily on private companies.
Fresh delays in the U.S. space agency's Artemis moon program and a propulsion issue that doomed American company Astrobotic's recent robot moon lander illustrate the difficulties faced by the only country to have set foot on the moon, as it tightens budgets while carrying on its cosmic legacy.
The United States is planning to put astronauts back on the moon in late 2026 - delayed this week from 2025 - while China is targeting 2030 for its crewed landings. Before humans arrive, each space power plans to first send several smaller robotic missions to examine the moon's surface. China's government-backed program has scored a string of firsts.
Astrobotic's lander carried seven NASA instruments that were meant to inspect the lunar surface. Although the lander won't make it to the surface intact, three other private moon missions sponsored by NASA, including a second Astrobotic attempt, are planned for this year.
NASA is leaning heavily on other companies such as Elon Musk's SpaceX - which it will pay for the use of its Starship HLS lunar landing spacecraft - to slash the cost of its moon missions. The last crewed moon trips were the U.S. Apollo missions more than half a century ago, when NASA owned all the spacecraft involved.
"I think that China has a very aggressive plan," NASA chief Bill Nelson said on Tuesday after announcing the Artemis delay. "I think they would like to land before us, because that might give them some PR coup. But the fact is, I don't think they will."
U.S. startups must develop space expertise and culture that took well-funded governments decades to develop. India is also taking that approach - leaning heavily on private companies in its space exploration efforts.
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