The space race among U.S. billionaires is accelerating, with SpaceX and Blue Origin ramping up lunar ambitions as both companies position themselves to return humans to the moon ahead of a planned Chinese mission in 2030.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has been publicly preparing for a possible initial public offering later this year, has increasingly shifted the company’s focus toward the moon. In recent podcast interviews and internal meetings, Musk outlined plans for a lunar base he dubbed “Moonbase Alpha” and a satellite-launching device to be placed on the lunar surface. The proposed infrastructure would support Musk’s broader vision of an AI-powered network, potentially involving as many as one million satellites.
This marks a notable change in strategy for Musk, who has long emphasized Mars colonization since founding SpaceX in 2002. As recently as last summer, he described an uncrewed Starship mission to Mars as imminent and referred to the moon as a “distraction.” Now, however, the moon has become central to SpaceX’s near-term strategy.
Blue Origin Shifts Gears, Embraces ‘Step-by-Step’ Strategy
In response, Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin has also intensified its lunar push. The company recently shut down its suborbital space tourism program to reallocate resources to its Blue Moon lander initiative, which is slated to launch an uncrewed mission to the lunar surface this year.
Following a series of social media posts from Musk suggesting a “pivot” to lunar priorities, Bezos posted a black-and-white image of a tortoise—an allusion to Aesop’s fable of the slow but steady tortoise beating the impulsive hare. The image echoes Blue Origin’s motto, “Gradatim Ferociter”—Latin for “step by step, ferociously.”
Both companies are now racing not only against each other, but against time, as they seek to demonstrate lunar leadership ahead of Musk’s planned IPO, which could value SpaceX at more than $1 trillion.
NASA’s Artemis Program Drives the New Moon Push
Industry executives say the intensified competition could benefit other companies in the broader lunar economy as NASA increases funding for moon-focused projects.
Blue Origin’s upcoming uncrewed mission is designed as a precursor to an astronaut landing under NASA’s Artemis program, which also relies heavily on SpaceX’s Starship system. Blue Origin’s lander was recently shipped to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas for crucial thermal and vacuum testing—an important step toward launch readiness.
NASA has awarded billions of dollars in contracts to both SpaceX and Blue Origin to develop lunar landers, aiming for a series of astronaut moon landings starting with SpaceX’s Starship. The agency’s renewed focus on the moon is intended as a rehearsal for future Mars missions, and NASA has urged the companies to accelerate development to stay ahead of China’s planned 2030 lunar landing.
Musk’s Lunar Vision Expands Beyond Landing
Musk has described even more ambitious goals, including building a “self-growing city” on the moon and deploying AI satellites from the lunar surface—an extension of his broader push to expand AI computing into space, particularly after SpaceX acquired Musk’s xAI this month.
“If the moon becomes a strategic jump-off point, and one that’s important to SpaceX, if they can get there first or early and build out that infrastructure, they might have a say in how that gets used and how they use it,” said Andrew Chanin, CEO of space-focused investment firm ProcureAM.
Ripple Effects Across the U.S. Lunar Industry
SpaceX’s Starship has launched 11 times since 2023 but has not yet successfully deployed payloads into orbit. The system is preparing for an upgraded test flight in the coming month, with a crewed moon landing currently targeted for 2028—a timeline many experts consider ambitious.
The Starship program still faces major technical milestones, including orbital refueling with tanker Starships and ensuring safe lunar surface landings before astronauts can be carried aboard.
Kathy Lueders, former head of NASA’s human space operations unit and now an independent advisor, said the rivalry between Musk and Bezos could help NASA compete with China.
“With Elon making these statements, that company is now laser-focused on getting back to the moon,” Lueders said.
The competition is already energizing other companies in the emerging lunar sector. Justin Cyrus, CEO of Lunar Outpost, said investor interest in lunar infrastructure has surged in recent weeks, with dozens of meetings sparked by Musk’s announcement.
“There is a very palpable change in mindset from the investment community on the lunar surface over the last two years, and I think Elon’s announcement has made that more pressing,” Cyrus said.
As both companies push to establish early dominance on the lunar surface, the coming years may prove decisive in shaping who controls the next era of space exploration.