A US congressional subcommittee expressed concerns over NASA's Artemis program, warning that China may land humans on the Moon first without intervention. Experts testified on Thursday that the current plan is unworkable and urged accountability for delays. Lawmakers reviewed NASA's policy amid rising Chinese competition in space.
On December 4, 2025, a subcommittee of the House Committee on Space, Science, and Technology held a hearing in Washington, DC, to assess NASA's ability to maintain global space leadership against China. The discussion focused on accelerating the Artemis Program, which aims to return humans to the Moon, amid fears that Beijing could achieve a crewed lunar landing before the US.
Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin delivered sharp criticism of the Artemis architecture, which depends on reusable lunar landers refueled in low-Earth orbit. "The bottom line is that an architecture which requires a high number of refueling flights in low-Earth orbit, no one really knows how many, uses a technology that has not yet ever been demonstrated in space, is very unlikely to work—unlikely to the point where I will say it cannot work," Griffin said. He contrasted this with China's approach, which resembles the successful Apollo program. "Sticking to a plan is important when the plan makes sense," Griffin added. "China is sticking to a plan that makes sense... Sticking to a plan that will not work for Artemis III and beyond makes no sense."
Griffin recommended canceling Artemis III and subsequent missions to start anew, referencing his earlier "Apollo on Steroids" concept. Other experts offered broader advice. Clayton Swope of the Center for Strategic and International Studies emphasized NASA's role in fostering innovation through programs like Commercial Lunar Payload Services and basic research. "Without science, we would never have had something like the Manhattan Project," Swope said.
Dean Cheng of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies stressed accountability for programs like the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket, which have faced years of delays and billions in overruns due to cost-plus contracts. "There need to be consequences, budgetary, legal, and otherwise, to the agency, to supplying companies," Cheng testified, calling for bipartisan priorities to enforce deadlines.
The hearing highlighted a recent $10 billion NASA budget infusion that provided no additional funding for lunar landings this decade, underscoring the need for policy changes to counter China's steady progress.