The next great space race may be decided in shadowed craters, where a frozen resource could determine who builds the first lasting lunar foothold.<\/p>\n
China and the United States are intensifying their space rivalry over the Moon, with its south pole becoming a key target for both countries. Scientists believe that permanently shadowed craters in this region may contain large amounts of water ice. This resource could potentially be used to produce drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel components needed for long-duration missions and future settlements beyond Earth.<\/p>\n
China has already demonstrated significant progress in its space program: the country launched the Tiangong orbital station and became the first in the world to return soil samples from the far side of the Moon to Earth. Beijing intends to land Chinese astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 and plans to establish a permanent settlement there by 2040.<\/p>\n
Why China and the United States are competing for the Moon\u2019s south pole<\/p>\n
The search for water ice will be one of the main objectives of China\u2019s Chang\u2019e-7 mission. Four robotic spacecraft are expected to head to the south pole:<\/p>\n
an orbiter;
\na lander;
\na lunar rover;
\na mobile \u201chopping\u201d module.<\/p>\n
They will study the surface and search for ice deposits that could form the basis of future infrastructure on the Moon.<\/p>\n
If lunar water ice is successfully found, it could significantly reduce the cost and time required to transport water from Earth, help establish a human base for long-term activity on the Moon, and support further exploration of Mars or deep space.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Tang Yuhua<\/p>\n
The United States is also preparing robotic missions to the south pole. At the end of 2026, NASA expects to launch the Griffin lander, developed by Astrobotic Technology. The mission is intended to address the problems encountered by two previous U.S. spacecraft, which failed to make successful landings in the region\u2019s challenging terrain.<\/p>\n
When China and the United States plan to land people on the Moon<\/p>\n
The U.S. Artemis program calls for astronauts to return to the Moon by 2028. However, its schedule has been repeatedly revised because of technical challenges and delays. NASA is involving SpaceX and Blue Origin in the development of human landing systems \u2013 Starship and Blue Moon.<\/p>\n
A key feature of both U.S. projects is the need to refuel spacecraft in Earth orbit. This operation is critical for a lunar expedition, but it has never been carried out at the required scale in the history of spaceflight.<\/p>\n
China has chosen a different flight architecture. Separate rockets are expected to carry a crewed spacecraft and the Lanyue lunar lander into space. After launch, the two vehicles are to dock in orbit before continuing on to the Moon. Patrick Besha, a former NASA strategic adviser and expert on China\u2019s space program, considers this approach technologically less complex.<\/p>\n
Some of the remaining barriers are not fundamental. They are not insurmountable problems.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Patrick Besha<\/p>\n
Lunar bases, resources, and international rules<\/p>\n
Beijing is also developing the International Lunar Research Station project, a future scientific complex on the Moon\u2019s surface. In its first phase, it is expected to be operated by robotic systems, with human presence planned later. China has previously discussed possible cooperation with Russia on the project, including the use of a nuclear reactor to supply power to the base.<\/p>\n
Competition between the United States and China is not limited to who will be the first to land people at the south pole. Equally important are questions of control over resources and rules of conduct on the Moon. The Artemis Accords, which have been joined by 70 countries, provide for the extraction of resources and the establishment of safety zones around relevant infrastructure.<\/p>\n
China, Russia, Pakistan, Belarus, and Egypt have not joined the Artemis Accords. At the same time, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits countries from claiming celestial bodies, but it does not set clear rules for extracting lunar minerals or defining the boundaries of protective zones around bases and technical facilities.<\/p>\n
It is this legal uncertainty, limited dialogue between Washington and Beijing, and competition for access to water ice that are heightening U.S. concerns about China\u2019s lunar program. At the same time, lunar exploration will require long-term coordination: without clear rules and cooperation among spacefaring nations, future missions could become more expensive, dangerous, and difficult.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The next great space race may be decided in shadowed craters, where a frozen resource could determine who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":811167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,158122,294564,344217,344218,344219,344216,52734,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-811166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-change-7","tag-china-space-program","tag-lunar-bases","tag-lunar-water-ice","tag-moon-south-pole","tag-moon-south-pole-lunar-water-ice-china-space-program-nasa-artemis-change-7-lunar-bases","tag-nasa-artemis","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}