The Next Space Race

Space had an incredible year in 2022. NASA and the James Webb Space Telescope produced beautiful images of stars and galaxies, the European Space Agency (ESA) made the initiative to send someone with a physical disability into space through their Parastronaut Feasibility Program, and NASA has made the initiative to return astronauts back to the Moon with their first test expedition Artemis I. NASA and the ESA were not the only ones eyeing space, as Russia’s Roscosmos plans to launch satellites into the Arctic by 2026, South Korea launched The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, and China completed their space station Tianmong.

So with everyone gearing up to explore space again, the question remains will a next space race occur?

The Space Race, put lightly, was a space exploration competition between the United States and the former Soviet Union. During this time the Soviet Union launched Sputnik and sent Yuri Gragarin to space, who ended up being the first person in space. The race ‘ended’ when Neil Armstrong, and effectively the whole United States, became the first to land on the Moon.

Technological advancement during this time as demonstrated by spaceflight was viewed as necessary for national security, is this still the case. Let’s take a closer look at the parties of this new space race.

China, like other countries, has made an effort to explore space and create their own space program. China recently completed their space station named Tiangong, as part of their China Manned Space Program. Other plans for space exploration also include the goal of landing taikonauts on the moon by 2030. But NASA administrator Bill Nelson warned of China’s interest in the Moon and lunar exploration.

“It is a fact: we’re in a space race,” Nelson told Politico in an interview. “And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’”

And claiming a new space race, like Nelson did, can be a controversial thing. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington told Politico U.S officials have “spoken irresponsibly to misrepresent the normal and legitimate space endeavors of China.”

The statement to Politico continued stating “China always advocates the peaceful use of outer space, opposes the weaponization of and arms race in outer space, and works actively toward building a community with a shared future for mankind in the space domain.”

So the question remains are countries going to be in a new space race, or is space exploration just that, exploring?