Blue Origin's CEO Dave Limp has offered to help NASA speed up its return to the Moon amid competition from China. In an interview, Limp emphasized the company's willingness to adapt its plans for a faster timeline. This comes ahead of the second launch of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket.
Blue Origin stands ready to assist NASA in landing humans on the Moon as soon as possible, according to CEO Dave Limp. Speaking in an interview with Ars Technica on Saturday, November 8, 2025, Limp said, “We just want to help the US get to the Moon.” He added, “If NASA wants to go quicker, we would move heaven and Earth, pun intended, to try to get to the Moon sooner. And I think we have some good ideas.”
The statements come amid growing concerns that China could beat the United States back to the Moon with humans. NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy announced about three weeks ago that the agency is reopening the competition for a human lander to accelerate the timeline. SpaceX and Blue Origin hold existing contracts for human landers, but NASA has requested options from both to speed up development. The current target for the Artemis III mission is 2027, though this date is seen as unrealistic with the existing approaches of SpaceX’s Starship or Blue Origin’s large Mk. 2 lander.
In response to Duffy's request, Blue Origin quickly submitted an initial summary of revised proposals, with a full report due shortly. Ars Technica exclusively reported in early October that the company is developing a faster architecture using multiple versions of its Mk. 1 cargo lander and a modified Mk. 1.5 version. Limp noted, “I’m not going to go into the details because I think that’s probably for NASA to talk about, not us, but we have some ideas that we think could accelerate the path to the Moon. And I hope NASA takes a close look.”
While NASA prioritizes a sustainable pathway with fully reusable landers and in-space vehicles, the rise of China’s program has prompted consideration of faster solutions requiring less refueling. Limp stressed the importance of long-term sustainability: “We have an HLS contract, which is a sustainable contract, and we want to continue that. We think the right long-term answer is a sustainable architecture that can get you to the Moon, keep you on the Moon, build settlements on the Moon, and use the Moon as a stepping stone for the rest of the Solar System.”
Limp's comments preceded Blue Origin's second New Glenn rocket launch by about 24 hours. The mission, carrying NASA's ESCAPADE spacecraft, has a window opening at 2:45 pm ET (19:45 UTC) on Sunday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The first launch in January nearly succeeded in orbiting a demonstration payload but failed to land the first stage due to BE-4 engines not relighting. Limp explained, “We got all the way to relighting the engines, so we reoriented the vehicle, and that worked perfectly fine. And we got to the point where we restarted the engines, and they just didn’t relight.” The company has since improved propellant conditioning and engine sequences, expressing cautious optimism for a successful booster landing.