China's race to create a permanent base on the moon is speeding up, exerting additional pressure on the US and influencing the future direction of moon exploration. With its International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) programme, China, in collaboration with Russia, aims to construct an operational research facility at the South Pole of the moon, with existing missions being used to test technologies to achieve the same. The Artemis programme of NASA has also not been spared from difficulties such as delays and redesigns. It can be seen that the current race is not only about flags but sustainable bases on the moon.
China’s international lunar research station is moving quickly
It is also important to acknowledge that the Chinese approach has become much more methodical and systematic recently. Thus, the country's International Lunar Research Station, which is created together with Russia, strives to develop a manned scientific station close to the Moon's south pole region by 2035. As can be seen in the long-term plan created by the China National Space Administration, the process will happen in several steps. As a result, Chang'e-7 is expected to explore ice water resources around the Shackleton crater, whereas Chang'e-8 will use lunar soil to test different construction techniques. Eventually, "in-situ resource utilisation" will enable astronauts to build structures, produce oxygen and even generate fuel directly from lunar resources. The ILRS program has also received an increased number of international partnerships. In its article, Orbit Codex informs that over 17 nations and numerous research organisations have already joined the project. Speaking about presentations held by Wu Weiren, who is a chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, Global Times reports on various topics related to ILRS discussed by the experts. One of them was a nuclear reactor aimed to ensure operations on the Moon permanently.
NASA’s Artemis Moon programme faces mounting pressure
Whereas the roadmap for Chinese space exploration looks increasingly stable, NASA’s plans under the Artemis programme have been changing constantly. The USA will continue its efforts to put astronauts on the lunar surface, but the deadline will now be in 2028. A significant portion of the Lunar Gateway was supposed to be the centre of NASA’s activities. Despite this, the organisation decided to adjust the project and focus on building a moon base on the ground, rather than above it. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, the future Artemis Base Camp would look at first like “a futuristic junkyard” until becoming operational. The political environment in the USA is also becoming increasingly supportive of the idea. According to a report prepared by the Senate Committee in relation to the NASA Authorisation Act of 2026, the bill explicitly tells NASA to create a permanent moon because “Space is not just symbolic; it is strategic. The NASA Authorisation Act ensures that America, not China, will lead the next era of exploration,” said Senator Cruz. It is not only a competition for exploration anymore, but also one over strategically important territories, which include the south pole of the Moon with water ice deposits.
Why the Moon’s south pole matters so much
The south pole of the Moon has emerged as the centrepiece of the current-day space race due to its possible resource availability. Scientists from Cornell University think that in the permanently shadowed areas of the South Pole, there is frozen water, which can provide drinking water, oxygen generation, and the manufacture of rocket fuel. Apart from being of scientific importance, studies regarding future habitation on the Moon have shown that the polar areas might actually be safer for extended stays by astronauts. According to a study carried out on micrometeoroids and their impacts in the Artemis period, the poles of the Moon experience fewer micrometeoroids than other areas. From a purely economic point of view, the southern pole might prove to be quite beneficial.
The new space race is about permanence, not prestige
Unlike the Cold War-era moon race in the 1960s, the present rivalry is about establishing something more permanent. China and America do not just want to get their astronauts to the surface of the Moon. Rather, they want to establish operational stations beyond Earth. The Artemis Accords and the ILRS collaboration have managed to establish two competing approaches to moon exploration. The US-led coalition approach competes with an alternative, which revolves around China's fast-growing moon mission program. There has been much speculation as to whether China really can stay “two steps ahead” of America. After all, NASA possesses a great amount of accumulated technological expertise and has many business partners, such as SpaceX. At the same time, one cannot deny that the well-calculated moves by China regarding the Moon have succeeded in drawing global attention. For decades now, the Moon has been representing past achievements. For the first time, it represents the future.
