For resources at stake

The phrase “a small step for man” is recorded in collective memory such as the zenith of space exploration. The United States won the race to the Soviet Union when Neil Armstrong marked the lunar soil with his footprint. However, 56 years later, Washington looks at the moon again with concern. The rival has changed, and the prize is much greater than the simple feat of arriving. The new space race against China is not for glory, but for the control of the resources that will define the future in space and the balance of power on earth.

Sean Duffy’s promise. Hours after Starship will complete its tenth flightthe first successful of the last four attempts, NASA’s acting administrator made a resounding statement: “In 2027, we will send American astronauts to the Moon. We won yesterday’s space race, we will win today’s space race against China, and we will always win tomorrow’s space race.”

Artemis delays. The initial date set by NASA for a new moon -deduction with humans was 2024. As noted Alejandro Alcantilla de NSFby then they were neither the central stage of the SLS rocket, nor the Orion ship, nor the spatial suits of the astronauts, much less the HLS Aunidation module: a spacex starship adapted to land on the moon.

The last date planned for the Mission Artemis III It is August 2027. It is possible that the other elements of the mission are ready by then, but more and more analysts question that the Starship ship arrives on time, since it accumulates its own delays.

The “lost” year of Starship. The gigantic Spacex ship is the only US trick to pose its astronauts on the moon, at least until The Blue Origin alternative Be ready. But its development has suffered a significant break. After a successful flight in June 2024, Elon Musk’s company has needed more than a year to channel the program.

This year of scarce advances in Starbase has kept NASA in suspense. Especially because Spacex still has to demonstrate the transfer of propellants in space on a scale never seen before moving forward with a crewless -rating in 2026.

The Methodic Lunar Conquest of China. Far from political fluctuations that often affect Western space programs, China has followed a persistent plan for decades. The Robotic Missions Chang’e have already logged First samples of the hidden face of the moon. But they have been only the beginning.

China’s goal is create a huge base on the moon with its partnersfor which it has been developing its own manned lunar program. China plans Send your first astronauts to the moon in 2030and their engineers are advancing like a clock towards that goal. In recent weeks, the state company CASC has successfully tested a prototype of its Lanyue lunar module and completed a static ignition of the CZ-10 heavy rocket. For experts in the Chinese space program, Like Dean Chengit is “quite likely that the Chinese terrify on the moon before NASA can return.”

The Wild West of Lunar Resources. China’s hypothetical victory in space would be an unprecedented geopolitical defeat for the United States, but not for the fact of reaching the moon, something that after all already made between 1969 and 1972. American senator John Cornyn exposed it bluntly: “Those who control the last border control the future. If the United States does not take advantage of the non -exploit resources of the Moon, China will do it.”

According to him Scientific Policy Professor Kazuto Suzukithis is not a race to put your feet on the moon. It is a career to find and control lunar resources. “China wants to be the first to have the right to dominate and monopolize resources, it is the wild west.”

What resources do we talk about? Although the 1967 ultra -resort treaty prohibits the national appropriation of celestial bodies, the reality is that whoever arrives first and establishes the infrastructure will have an advantage to exploit the vast treasures offered by the moon:

• Ice water: concentrated in the perpetual shadow craters of the lunar poles. Not only is it vital for life, but it can decompose in hydrogen and oxygen, the basic components to produce rocket fuel. A base in the South Lunar Pole would be, in effect, a “gas station” for future missions to Mars and beyond.
• Helio-3: A light and weird isotope on Earth that is abundant in the lunar regolite. It is considered a clean and efficient fuel potential for nuclear fusion, the energy of the future.
• Metals and minerals: The lunar surface is rich in iron, titanium, aluminum and the most crucial material, silicon. These materials could be used to build and maintain a base using local resources, from make bricks with lunar dust to print solar panels.
• Solar energy: Without an atmosphere that dispenses it, solar energy in lunar poles is constant and abundant, a reliable energy source to feed a human base.

The nuclear reactor and its exclusion zone. The fear in Washington is that the first country to establish a functional base can, in practice, claim the territory. This concern became explicit a few days ago when the US administration urged NASA to install a nuclear fission reactor on the moon by 2030anticipating the plans withoutorruse.

A nuclear reactor is indispensable to survive icy and long two -week lunar nights, where solar energy is not an option. The directive made it clear: “The first country to do so could declare an exclusion zone, which would significantly limit the United States.” In addition, the highest land control is at stake, key to master communications, navigation and military intelligence on Earth.

A lot of power at stake. If China manages to alunize before the United States, we would be before the end of American exceptionalism. Arriving first translates into a decisive influence to establish the technical standards and communication protocols of the cislunar space.

The United States has the advantage of its experience and a more advanced private sector, but China has in its favor stability, long -term planning and a relentless impulse. This time, the goal is not a flag, but the key to the resources that They will mold the future of humanity in deep space and the delicate balance of power on our own planet.

Image | POT

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