Chinese ambitions to surpass the United States — quite literally to reach the stars — are at the center of a modern-day Space Race.
Over the past several years, China has sought to return humans to the Moon by 2030, having developed prototypes of the necessary rocket, space shuttle, lunar lander, rover, and surface exploration suits.
Summer saw testing of these devices, with the shuttle, named Mengzhou, passing an escape flight test in June, while the lander Lanyue ("Embrace the Moon") and the Long March rocket were successfully tested in August.
China also hopes to build an International Lunar Research Station in cooperation with Russia by 2035, powered by a nuclear reactor.
In addition to its lunar aspirations, the Chinese have launched the Qianfan ("Thousand Sails") satellite array, a "megaconstellation" of satellites similar to StarLink, and are working on an additional satellite program known as the Guowang ("National Net"), which is under closer guard and defense-oriented, sparking concern among U.S. officials of militarization and weaponization against America.
Jeff DeWitt, former Chief Financial Officer of NASA under President Donald Trump, said in 2020, "as President Kennedy said in 1962, no nation which expects to be the leader of other nations can expect to stay behind in the race for space."
"To accomplish the worthy exploration goals set by President Trump, we need all hands on deck, similar to the 1960s, and NASA must leverage all of our commercial partners' capabilities and workforces to the utmost," DeWitt continued. "America was and must continue to be leading the way in going back to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond."
In comments to The Floridian, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said, "every day our nation is competing against a dangerous adversary, Communist China, determined to surpass the United States and use space as another front to expand its military and surveillance capabilities."
"The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will stop at nothing to gain dominance in their continued efforts to threaten our national security, our allies, and our way of life," Sen. Scott continued. "We cannot allow the CCP to outpace America in the race to space. We must invest, innovate, and ensure that the United States, not Communist China, leads the future of space exploration. Winning the race to space against the CCP means defending freedom against tyranny."
