By Sarah Cope | 2026-04-13

Decades after US astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, in July 1969, another international "moon race" is under way.

While the Soviet Union was the primary US space rival in the 1960s, this time the competition is largely between the United States and China.

And now the players are racing to establish a presence on the moon, instead of just landing on it.

In late March, NASA unveiled its accelerated plans to establish a lunar base, expecting to spend $20 billion over the next seven years to achieve its vision.

The US space agency announced it is shifting its focus away from the Gateway lunar space station initiative in favor of faster, direct lunar surface development.

Moon base construction will involve dozens of missions, and include collaboration with "commercial and international partners towards a deliberate and achievable plan" for a sustained lunar presence, according to NASA.

Partner nations and Artemis Accords signatories will share in the quest to establish "humanity's first permanent surface outpost beyond Earth," NASA administrator Jared Isaacman said in a March 24 announcement.

"We will take the world along with us," he said.

NASA’s lunar base plans

NASA's three-phase plan for building a moon base is slated to occur between 2026 and 2029, 2029 and 2032, and 2032 and beyond.

The first phase will accelerate the cadence of moon missions, in a shift from "bespoke, infrequent missions to a repeatable, modular approach," it said.

During this phase, NASA will send rovers and instruments to the moon, using commercial lunar payload services (CLPS) for deliveries and testing technology for mobility and power generation, among other things.

To this end, the lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) program is developing a next-generation, unpressurized, electric rover that will enable astronauts to explore larger distances and transport cargo, and can operate autonomously.

The second phase, which incorporates major international contributions, will establish preliminary, semi-inhabitable infrastructure and the associated logistics necessary to support recurring astronaut operations on the surface.

This will see repeated manned surface missions carried out in cooperation with international partners. NASA pointed to plans to feature a pressurized rover developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) during this stage.

The third phase seeks to enable an enduring human presence through cargo‑capable human landing systems (HLS) and heavier infrastructure.

This phase plans to employ multi-purpose habitats designed by the Italian Space Agency, and to make use of the Canadian Space Agency's lunar utility vehicle.

It will provide the opportunity for further international cooperation, particularly in the areas of logistics, surface mobility and infrastructure.

NASA's moon base strategy emphasizes the importance of international and commercial partnerships, per a publicly released fact sheet on the program.

The strategy "is built on commercial and international participation at an unprecedented scale," it says, and will have "opportunities for all Artemis Accords signatories to contribute technology demonstrations, scientific payloads, and foundational infrastructure in every phase."

Sustained human presence on the moon will require a substantial technological investment, creating opportunities for domestic and international companies.

NASA programs already contract with numerous US-based companies.

CLPS has a pool of 13 contractors supporting the program, and LTV has three primary contractors -- Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and Venturi Astrolab -- which are designing lunar rovers to support the Artemis missions.

China's lunar base plans

While the United States relies on a mix of private companies and government entities for innovation, China has concentrated its research and development efforts in state-owned enterprises and agencies.

China also has been exploring building its own lunar base -- the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) -- since 2021, in collaboration with Russia.

The ILRS is a cooperative effort between Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration (CNSA), with participation from 11 other nations, including Egypt, Pakistan and South Africa.

While the base was announced initially as a collaboration, China has taken the lead since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Plans for the ILRS envision a long-term research facility that would be established through a phased approach.

Initial robotic missions would survey terrain and test technologies, followed by the construction of core infrastructure in the early 2030s, and eventual support for human habitation.

An expanded version of the base is planned for around 2040.

The effort builds on China’s Chang’e (Lunar Exploration) program that has focused on the development of lunar orbiters, landers, rovers and sample return missions.

US-China competition

Competition between the US and Chinese space programs is not just about technological capabilities and scientific advancement, but about who will shape the rules governing international space exploration and activity.

The United States has anchored its approach in the Artemis Accords, a non-binding agreement that establishes norms for peaceful and transparent exploration of outer space.

China’s ILRS reflects a looser approach to cooperation, focused more on mutual benefit in the development of technology, rather than outlining principles to govern standards of behavior in space.

China never talks about a "moon race" with the United States. But as both programs advance, the moon is becoming a proving ground for a race that may determine how the international order is reflected in space.

The Chinese "are ambitious for the future of their program and see the moon as the logical next step, for its own sake, not for any rivalry," astrophysicist and space analyst Jonathan McDowell told AFP.

"Having said that," he added, "the establishment of a lunar base by China would be a real challenge to America's ability to establish such a base -- there's only a small amount of suitable area near the lunar south pole."

For now, China lags behind the United States in terms of crewed flights, Chen Lan, a specialist in the Chinese space program, told AFP.

NASA's Dragon and Orion spacecraft remain superior compared to China's Shenzhou, he noted.

"However, I expect when China realizes manned lunar landing by 2030 with the new spaceship and lunar landing vehicle, it will catch up with the US in the human spaceflight field."