The moon may have had the American flag on it since the early 1960s, but it does not mean it is the United States’ or NASA’s property. The Cold War was not fought with bullets and bombs on the battlefield, but with the brilliant minds of scientists between the USA and the USSR – a country that disappeared years later to become what we now know as Russia. Now, with the most recent decision coming from President Donald Trump, the space race is on between America and China, the world’s largest manufacturing country.
Delay from NASA puts China back in the race
With both countries in a sensible diplomatic moment with each other, economic sectors like space travel continue at a high speed, especially for China. Recently, NASA confirmed the delay of the US return mission to the moon until 2027. Technical problems with Artemis II, the spaceship that will circle the moon with four astronauts and return before launching another mission to officially land back on the moon years later, are to blame for the delay.
The delay of the mission has put China back in the picture. The Chinese space program continues to progress without significant failures or delays. In April 2024, officials announced that the country was on track to send astronauts to the moon by 2030. Until the news about Artemis II being delayed, China would land on the moon many years later than the USA, but the timeframe is now much closer.
China’s lack of experience is not the truth
Space exploration is a relatively new field for China, who launched its first astronaut in 2003. On the other hand, the fast development of these sectors has allowed the Chinese to operate space stations less than a decade later.
Take note that this will not be the first time China has explored space. The Chang’e lunar exploration program has sent robots on missions to land on the moon, collect samples from the surface, and return. The technology to land on the moon was also being tested.
Both countries have shown specific interest in the lunar South Pole. The region attracts attention for the presence of water ice in shadowed craters. This asset could be used for life support by a lunar base and turned into rocket propellant.
Conflict of interest between NASA and other companies
USA President Donald Trump nominated Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, but his nomination raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest, given his financial ties to SpaceX chief Elon Musk, who is a key advisor to Trump and his involvement in other sectors of government efficiency.
Isaacman is the founder of Shift4 Payments, a company focused on payments, and became the first private citizen to perform a spacewalk in September 2023 during a SpaceX mission. He also made a public statement against NASA selecting Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to develop a second lunar landing system.
Bill Nelson did not appear to like the words coming from Isaacman, and rapidly shut down more speculations, claiming that what’s important is the big picture.
“We have contracts with two companies for landers – as long as we’re a nation of the rule of law, those contracts are going to be operative,” Nelson said.
The USA and China are racing for the Moon’s South Pole
The new space race will be to see who gets to the lunar South Pole first. NASA administrator Bill Nelson told reporters during a press conference about the importance of the project and ensured that the pushbacks from Project Artemis will not be a problem in 2027.
“It’s important, in an area where we think there is such promise…that we establish our presence there, so that China would not be there and say ‘keep out,'” Nelson said.