On August 6, the secretive China Manned Space Agency successfully tested a mockup of its Lanyue lunar lander. In a rare official statement, the agency explained that the lander will “transport two taikonauts between the lunar orbit and the lunar surface…[and] will serve as a life-support center, an energy center and a data center, offering assistance and serving as a base for the taikonauts’ stay and activities on the moon’s surface.”
Why is this event noteworthy? As Ars Technica’s space reporter Eric Berger said bluntly, “This work suggests that China is on course to land on the Moon before the end of this decade.”
The second Space Race is already underway, even if you may not have heard about it. Back in 2021, China’s government issued a straightforward message regarding their intentions for space:
In the next five years, China will integrate space science, technology and applications while pursuing the new development philosophy, building a new development model and meeting the requirements for high-quality development. It will start a new journey towards a space power. The space industry will contribute more to China’s growth as a whole, to global consensus and common effort with regard to outer space exploration and utilization, and to human progress.
The stakes of this space competition extend beyond national prestige. Former US Air Force Lieutenant General Steven L. Kwast has been warning about the economic implications since late 2019. When speaking at Hillsdale College, Kwast framed the challenge in stark terms:
This is not a military race, this is an economic race. And if you do not have a guardian force to bring rule of law and predictability, no venture capitalists will know how to make risk decisions. No company will be able to invest. And those that do will have their hard work stolen away, because the rule of law is not codified by a guardian force. The good news is, there are more societies on planet Earth that share our values as an American society, that will work with us to do this. But right now, we’re paralyzed.
Kwast isn’t alone. TechFreedom’s Jim Dunstan has also been a leading voice for reform, arguing that Congress must act urgently to reform America’s space regulatory system. Otherwise, adversarial nations like China may have grounds to handicap or co-opt American space actors. My former colleague Eli Dourado has also made the case that space investment is critical for human and US advancement, as it presents opportunities to improve living conditions on earth, safeguard democracy, and further scientific research. While voices like Kwast, Dunstan, and Dourado make compelling cases for continued US leadership in space across security and economic domains, China’s rapid mobilization of state and private space resources is a serious challenge to the US and our strategic partners.
Thankfully, President Trump just issued an Executive Order on Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry that will:
- Expedite environmental reviews for launch and reentry licenses and permits;
- Expedite environmental and administrative reviews for spaceport infrastructure development across the Departments of Defense, Interior, Transportation, and NASA, which will also include the establishment of new National Environmental Policy Act categorical exclusions for spaceport development activities;
- Create a new position in the Office of the Secretary focused on fostering innovation and deregulation;
- Direct the Federal Aviation Administration Administrator to appoint a senior executive as Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation;
- Propose a streamlined authorization process for novel space activities covered by the Outer Space Treaty but not existing frameworks; and
- Elevate the Office of Space Commerce into the Office of the Secretary.
While these reforms are desperately needed, there’s more to do.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) still doesn’t have a full time Administrator. Sean Duffy, the current Secretary of Transportation, is pulling double duty as NASA Administrator. While Duffy is an excellent pick at Transportation, NASA deserves a full time leader that can help reform and reorient the agency.
And then there’s the Artemis Program, which was originally targeted for 2024. However, the first crewed landing now looks unlikely before 2027 or later. Each slip in schedule not only erodes public confidence but also gives China more room to seize the mantle of lunar leadership. If the United States wants to win this second Space Race, it cannot treat delays as routine or leadership gaps as tolerable.
If the Chinese land on the moon before Artemis, there will be an uproar. Reforming NASA’s governance, accelerating Artemis, and ensuring a level commercial playing field are not luxuries, they are prerequisites.
The race back to the Moon is not merely symbolic. It will shape the legal, economic, and strategic order of space for decades to come. To secure that future, the US must treat space governance as urgent statecraft. Spacecraft is statecraft.
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