Washington , 22 October (H.S.): SpaceX CEO Elon Musk launched a fiery attack on acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy on Tuesday, labeling him Sean Dummy and declaring he is trying to kill NASA! after the agency announced it was seeking new bids for its mission to return humans to the Moon.

The public feud erupted after Duffy, who also serves as the U.S. Transportation Secretary, announced on Monday that NASA would open the Artemis moon mission to other companies, citing delays in the development of SpaceX's Starship rocket.

I love SpaceX. It's an amazing company. The problem is, they're behind, Duffy stated on Fox News, emphasizing the urgency of a race against China to return to the lunar surface.

Musk retaliated with a series of scathing posts on X, the social media platform he owns. The person responsible for America's space program can't have a 2 digit IQ, he wrote, and in another post retorted, SpaceX is moving like lightning compared to the rest of the space industry. He confidently predicted, Starship will end up doing the whole Moon mission. Mark my words.

The escalating tension highlights a broader power struggle for the permanent leadership of NASA. Duffy is reportedly vying to hold onto the top job, while businessman and Musk associate Jared Isaacman—President Trump's original but withdrawn nominee—is said to be back in contention.

The White House had pulled Isaacman's nomination in May, shortly after Musk's public falling out with Trump. NASA is now planning its Artemis 3 mission for mid-2027, but the repeated delays and technical challenges facing SpaceX's Starship have opened the door for competitors like Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin to submit new proposals.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar