NASA's top official on Monday said the U.S. space agency was opening up the contract for its Artemis 3 astronaut moon landing to compete against billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX, the mission's current contractor,

Elon Musk is taking aim at the head of NASA amid news that the U.S. space agency may consider companies other than SpaceX to build lunar landers.

NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy revealed that the agency is reopening the contract for the first U.S. crewed lunar landing since the 1970s, inviting proposals from companies beyond SpaceX’s Starship.

Starship, which has launched 11 times in South Texas, was NASA's vehicle of choice to land astronauts on the moon. Now the agency wants other options.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated Nov. 15, 2022. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy told a crowded stadium at Rice University that the U.S. would lead the charge of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade, arguing that no single space ...