NASA Chief Warns China Is Closing Gap in 'New Space Race'
The U.S. wants to get astronauts back on the moon by 2028, to beat China's 2030 goal.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman cautioned on Friday that the United States is embroiled in a new space race with China. The agency must emulate the fervor of the Apollo era to be the first to return astronauts to the moon, he stated. China initiated its first spaceflight in 2003, subsequently expanding its space capabilities to include lunar missions and ambitions for a crewed moon landing before 2030.
This rapid progression has established a competition far more intense than the Cold War rivalry that culminated in the Apollo lunar landings, Isaacman remarked during an Artemis update at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA, he emphasized, will not stand idly by as one of the most significant moments of this century passes to its overseas competitors.
The agency has reaffirmed its plans for Artemis III and Artemis IV—the mission slated to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028. NASA will continue to rely on SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to achieve these objectives. Artemis III, a two-week mission involving four astronauts and a series of docking trials in Earth's orbit, will not actually travel to the moon but will instead test the systems and procedures essential for upcoming lunar landings.
The mission necessitates multiple launches from Florida in quick succession and will provide astronauts the chance to practice docking with both commercial spacecraft. NASA Program Manager Jeremy Parsons commended SpaceX for its swift development pace, highlighting the agency's push as it seeks to reduce bureaucracy, expedite decision-making, and accelerate hardware development.
Despite these efforts, Isaacman stressed that safety would not be compromised. He envisioned future lunar missions as paving the way for a permanent human presence beyond Earth, with spacecraft designed to drastically lower the cost of delivering mass to orbit and the moon, enabling more frequent astronaut missions, and transforming a modest scientific outpost into a lunar city.
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