SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musk's commercial rocket company, says it's working on a "simplified" plan for its Starship to land astronauts on the moon.

After acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy this month called out SpaceX for Starship delays, Elon Musk's company has come back with an update defending its progress and offering a speedier plan to get astronauts back on the moon as part of the Artemis program.

Elon Musk's SpaceX on Thursday said it proposed to NASA a simplified plan to send humans to the moon using its Starship rocket, as the agency presses its contractors to move more quickly toward beating China to the lunar surface this decade.

SpaceX is planning its first rocket launch of November from California. Will the Falcon 9 be visible soaring over Arizona?

Commander Matthew Dominick, pilot Michael Barratt, mission specialists Jeanette Epps and Aleksandr Grebenkin arrived at the International Space Station after docking. Credit: NASA