SpaceX Starship Faces Herculean Tech Hurdles In Race To Moon Landing

BusinessAerospace & DefenseSpaceX Starship Faces Herculean Tech Hurdles In Race To Moon LandingByKevin Holden Platt,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Kevin Holden Platt writes on space defense, SpaceX, ISS, Space War I Follow AuthorMay 26, 2026, 06:29pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.After acing a flight test of its newest generation Starship super-capsule, SpaceX still has to speed through an obstacle course of tech challenges, stretching out across 380,000 kilometers, to win the race to land astronauts around the impact craters of the Moon. (Photo by Sergio FLORES / AFP) (Photo by SERGIO FLORES/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesDespite acing a flight test of its newest generation Starship super-capsule, SpaceX still has to speed through an obstacle course of tech challenges, stretching out across 380,000 kilometers, to win the race to land astronauts around the impact craters of the Moon, say leading North American space scholars. Stepping up pressure on SpaceX to whizz through a progression of Herculean-level leaps in space technology, the White House has issued an executive order that mandates “returning Americans to the Moon by 2028.”And while SpaceX once held an exclusive commission from NASA to shuttle its astronauts down to the lunar surface, originally by 2024, delays in perfecting the Starship have triggered the space agency to reopen the Moon landing competition.SpaceX is now vying with Blue Origin to complete its Moon lander first, with both American spacecraft designers keeping close tabs on China’s parallel quest to speed its taikonauts to the silver and black orb before the end of the decade. China is rushing to perfect a new super-booster, crew capsule and lunar module in its race to speed its astronauts to the MoonPhoto by Kevin Holden PlattMORE FOR YOUThe clock is ticking on this three-power competiti...