New Delhi, Oct. 31 -- SpaceX, a space company owned by billionaire Elon Musk, said on Thursday that it has proposed to NASA a "simplified" plan to send humans to the moon using its Starship rocket.

SpaceX's statement came as NASA presses its contractors to move more quickly toward reaching the lunar surface this decade.

"Since the contract was awarded, we have been consistently responsive to NASA as requirements for Artemis III have changed and have shared ideas on how to simplify the mission to align with national priorities," SpaceX wrote in a lengthy blog post on its website describing Starship progress.

"In response to the latest calls, we've shared and are formally assessing a simplified mission architecture and concept of operati...