SpaceX manager Elon Musk sounded optimistic Saturday evening when questioned about the development of the company’s Starship lunar lander project for NASA.

The Twitter account “Everything Artemis” asked Musk no matter whether he expected to have Starship all set to land individuals on the moon by 2024.

“In all probability faster,” Musk replied just two minutes later on.

Previously Saturday, CNBC space reporter Michael Sheetz pointed out that NASA experienced compensated $300 million to SpaceX on July 30 toward Starship, representing the agency’s most current big allocation toward the project.

MUSK DEFENDS STARSHIP Abilities AS BLUE ORIGIN Continues TO DISPUTE SPACEX’S NASA MOON LANDER Task

Sheetz’s publish bundled a backlink to the federal USASpending.gov website, which paperwork government investing.

The web-site claimed that $439.6 million has so considerably been paid out to SpaceX for what’s regarded as to be a $3 billion challenge.

Just 3 times earlier, Musk went on Twitter to protect the Starship job amid grievances from Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space corporation that NASA has determined to award just one moon-lander contract for its Human Landing Program (HLS) method.

Blue Origin, led by billionaire Jeff Bezos, left, would not particularly see eye-to-eye with SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, about NASA’s Human Landing Program (HLS) application.

Blue Origin has asserted that SpaceX received preferential cure in receiving the NASA agreement.

“We are specifically anxious with the deficiency of flight readiness assessments in SpaceX’s proposal,” Blue Origin had created in a assertion to Fox Company. “SpaceX’s sophisticated strategy needs 16 consecutive launches with only three total flight readiness reviews alternatively of just one for just about every start which is constant with frequent industry exercise. Flight readiness evaluations are essential to basic safety and are primarily essential with reusable motor vehicles and various launches in immediate succession.”

Musk responded to Blue Origin’s assertion a tweet, clarifying that 16 Starship flights is “particularly not likely.” 

“Starship payload to orbit is ~150 tons , so max of 8 to fill 1200 ton tanks of lunar Starship,” Musk mentioned. “Without flaps & heat protect, Starship is a lot lighter. Lunar landing legs don’t insert substantially (1/6 gravity). Might only require 1/2 complete, ie 4 tanker flights.”

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Nevertheless, he mentioned that it would not be a challenge even if 16 flights had been necessary.

“SpaceX did more than 16 orbital flights in 1st half of 2021 & has docked with Station (substantially more challenging than docking with our very own ship) in excess of 20 moments,” Musk added.

Fox Business’ Lucas Manfredi contributed to this story.