NYT reported on the US concession in the moon race to China due to SpaceX delays

The United States may not be able to implement the plan to land astronauts on the moon in 2027 and cede leadership to China. The main reason for the backlog was delays on the part of American entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX company. This was reported by The New York Times on September 20.

The reusable Starship project, which NASA assigns a key role in the Artemis III mission, has faced serious challenges. Of the last four tests, three ended in explosions, and the fuel test scheduled for this year has been postponed to at least 2026. NASA has already acknowledged that the landing may be postponed until 2028 and even later.

"This has nothing against SpaceX — they have done incredible things. But the further you move away from known technologies, the more time it takes," said Douglas Loverro, former head of NASA's manned programs.

Holding the station: will Russian Federation and the U.S. increase cooperation in space with the arrival of Trump

Now the parties are limited to interaction within the ISS program

Earlier, on September 16, it was reported about 20 tests of engines for space rockets, which were conducted by SpaceX. It was noted that not all tests passed flawlessly. The Raptor 3 launch on a vertical stand was abruptly interrupted after 40 seconds due to an explosive shutdown. It is possible that this was a special test with deliberate engine failure.

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