US president Donald Trump is determined to beat China to the moon – and then to Mars. Yet if anyone in Beijing were truly anxious about America’s progress, they might be reassured by the events of recent days.
The public spat between Elon Musk, whose SpaceX business is Nasa’s most important contractor, and Sean Duffy, US transport secretary and acting head of the space agency, may look like a clash of egos. In reality, it is merely the latest symptom of the disarray engulfing Nasa and its ambitions.
For the past nine months, the US space agency has been operating without a permanent leader. It has been struggling to cope with thousands of departures forced by Musk’s so-called department of government efficiency, a proposal for dramatic cuts to its science budget and the uncertain future of many programmes on which international partnerships rely.
Now it appears to have become the focus of a power struggle over its leadership, and its status as an independent agency.
RM Block
It began on Monday with Duffy’s declaration that SpaceX was falling behind in its contract to adapt its Starship rocket into a lunar lander capable of taking astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2027.
Addressing a theme dear to Trump’s heart, Duffy insisted that the only way to beat the Chinese – who aim to land taikonauts on the moon by 2030 – was to reopen SpaceX’s contract and invite new bidders.
Musk’s riposte was swift. “SpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry,” he posted on his social media platform X.
“Starship will end up doing the whole moon mission. Mark my words.”
But when reports emerged that Duffy had suggested Nasa could be integrated into the department of transportation, Musk snapped.
Duffy’s proposal looked like a naked power grab. It came even as speculation mounted that Jared Isaacman, the billionaire who has twice flown on Musk’s rockets, was back in the running to lead Nasa after his nomination had been pulled abruptly in May. (The last time Musk turned on the administration, Isaacman was one of the casualties.)
So with the leadership of his biggest customer in contention, Musk got personal. “The person responsible for America’s space program can’t have a 2 digit IQ,” he posted.
Calling the secretary “Sean Dummy”, the SpaceX founder asked followers to take a poll that alluded to Duffy’s record as a champion lumberjack athlete.
“Should someone whose biggest claim to fame is climbing trees be running America’s space program?” Musk asked.
This may all seem rather entertaining, if childish. But the spat is doing nothing to resolve the deeper crisis over Nasa’s direction and credibility.
While Duffy may be correct that Starship is running behind schedule, he failed to mention that the entire Artemis programme – Nasa’s mission to return astronauts to the moon – is also running late, and not just because of delays to SpaceX’s lunar lander.
Veteran space reporter Eric Berger of Ars Technica noted that vital kit such as the lunar space suits would not be ready in time. No point landing humans if they can’t walk on the surface.
As for Nasa’s target date of 2027?
“Almost nobody believes in that date,” said Greg Autry, the administration’s nominee for Nasa finance director, in an interview for the FT’s Tech Tonic Mission to Mars podcast last month.
Part of the problem is that Nasa has taken a vastly more complicated route to send its astronauts to the Moon, combining SpaceX’s Starship lander with the agency’s own over-budget and much-delayed Space Launch System. And while the US programme stumbles from one delay to another, China is still talking about its 2030 target.
“This is a neck-and-neck race,” Autry told me last month. “The Chinese solution is much simpler – less capable in a lot of ways than our initial moon plans, but very practical.”
Meanwhile, the government shutdown and radical budget proposals have left Nasa adrift and demoralised.
“I’ve seen hurricanes, seen shuttle crashes. I’ve never seen the entire agency – top to bottom – freaked out like they are now,” said Keith Cowing, a former Nasa scientist currently running the news site NasaWatch. “They don’t know what’s going to happen.”
With such turmoil it is difficult to see how Trump will fulfil his ambition to plant the stars and stripes on the moon before China lifts its five-starred red flag. Without clear leadership, there can be no plan. And without a plan, there can be no mission. - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
