The US is locked in a space race with China and the country must “see” its rival not to gain ground and try to dominate the lunar resources, a top Nasa official has warned.
The assessment was launched by Nasa administrator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut and Florida senator, who warned that China could eventually claim “its own” lunar satellite territory.
He added that the competition between the United States and China could increase over the next two years to determine which country will benefit.
“It’s weird: we’re kind of in space,” Nelson told Politico. “And it is true that we had better be careful not to touch the surface of the moon under the guise of scientific research. Nor is it beyond the realm of possibility that they say: “Be careful, here we are, this is our limit.”
Nelson cited Chinese aggression over islands in the South China Sea, where Beijing has established military bases, as evidence of its territorial ambitions. “If you doubt what they did with the Spratly Islands,” he said.
Last year, China’s space program put an Earth orbiting space station and made several lunar orbit and sample recovery missions. The third phase of the program, as an autonomous lunar research station near the south pole of the moon, will be launched in 2025.
In December, the Chinese government presented its vision for a lunar landing, space transportation, infrastructure and space regime. China has also announced plans to land taikonauts on the moon by the end of this decade.
Meanwhile, NASA recently completed a 26-day Artemis 1 mission to take pictures of the lunar surface. Future missions are designed to establish activity on the moon. But we have also noticed that the US is on Mars.
The US military has also sounded the alarm in the airspace of the Chinese military and has given security measures.
“Absolutely we will be able to take it and overcome it,” Space Force Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno said on a visit to Australia. “They made amazing progress – very quickly.”
But Beijing has rejected some interpretations of US motives behind China’s space push. “Outer space is not a struggle,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, told Politico.
A spokesman said some US officials “spoke irresponsibly in an attempt to slander China’s normal and legitimate space activities.”
“China always advocates the peaceful use of outer space, opposes the armaments and weapons class in outer space, and actively works to build a community with a common future for mankind in the space region,” the statement added.
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