SpaceX Warns: Regulatory Delays Jeopardize US Moon Mission, Risking Chinese Astronauts' Lunar Landing
A top SpaceX executive, William Gerstenmaier, warned government regulators that regulation was stifling the company's progress on its Starship mega rocket, potentially allowing China to beat the US to landing astronauts on the Moon again. Gerstenmaier delivered the message on Wednesday to the Senate subcommittee on space and science at a hearing on commercial space regulations. Gerstenmaier, who is SpaceX's VP for build and reliability, said regulatory delays have put SpaceX a month behind in testing their next Starship prototype. Gerstenmaier warned these regulatory delays could mean China lands astronauts on the Moon before the US does. NASA aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2025 but it's not clear if SpaceX can meet that goal.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 It's Benzinga and here's what's on the block.
00:02 A top SpaceX executive, William Gerstenmaier, warned government regulators that regulation
00:07 was stifling the company's progress on its Starship mega-rocket, potentially allowing
00:12 China to beat the US to landing astronauts on the moon again.
00:16 Gerstenmaier delivered the message on Wednesday to the Senate Subcommittee on Space and Science
00:21 at a hearing on commercial space regulations.
00:24 Gerstenmaier, who is SpaceX's VP for Build and Reliability, said regulatory delays have
00:30 put SpaceX a month behind in testing their next Starship prototype.
00:34 Gerstenmaier warned these regulatory delays could mean China lands astronauts on the moon
00:39 before the US does.
00:41 NASA aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2025, but it's not clear if SpaceX
00:46 can meet that goal.
00:47 For all things money, visit Benzinga.com.
00:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]