Jeff Bezos’ rocket company could race SpaceX to the moon.

Which billionaire space company will go to the moon first: Elon Musk’s SpaceX or Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin?

At first glance, SpaceX appears to have a huge lead. It is about to launch Starship’s third test flight. A variant of the Starship is planned to take NASA astronauts to the moon’s surface as early as September 2026.

Blue Origin, on the other hand, has not yet put anything into orbit, and its contract with NASA for a lunar lander for astronauts is for a mission that will launch in 2030.

But Blue Origin can still get there first. SpaceX faces big challenges with Starship, which is the size of a 16-story building, while Blue Origin plans to send a smaller cargo lander to the moon by the end of next year.

“We expect this lander to land on the moon in 12 to 16 months,” said John Couluris, senior vice president of lunar permanence at Blue Origin, during an interview in the CBS News program “60 Minutes” this month.

The initial launch of the Mark 1 version of the Blue Moon lander is what Blue Origin calls a “pathfinder” to test technologies such as the BE-7 engine, flight computers, avionics and power systems – the same systems that will be used in the much larger Mark 2 lander that will take astronauts to the moon’s surface.

The Mark 1 lander can carry up to three tons of cargo to the lunar surface, but will be small enough to fit on one of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets. The New Glenn has yet to fly, but the company says its debut voyage will take place later this year.

After launching Blue Moon Mark 1 into an orbit about 125 miles (200 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, the lander’s BE-7 engine will propel it toward the moon, slow it down to orbit the moon, and then propel it toward landing lead on the surface.

The smaller size means that, unlike Starship, the Mark 1 lander does not need to be refueled before leaving Earth orbit. Demonstrating refueling technology in orbit will be a key test to validate Starship’s design. Refueling will also be required for the Blue Moon Mark 2 lander.