The United States and China are locked in an accelerating race to establish permanent settlements on the Moon, with both superpowers targeting the lunar south pole in what experts describe as the most consequential space competition since the Cold War.

NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy announced this week that the agency is reopening the Artemis III lunar lander contract to additional companies beyond SpaceX, citing delays in Elon Musk's Starship program and the urgent need to beat China to the Moon.

"We are in a race against China, so we need the best companies to operate at a speed that gets us to the Moon first," Duffy stated.

Competing lunar programs target same region

Both nations are focusing on the Moon's south pole, where permanently shadowed craters contain water ice that could be converted into drinking water and rocket fuel for future missions.

The US-led Artemis program aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2027, while China plans crewed lunar landings by 2030 as part of its International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).

China's ILRS project has attracted 17 countries and international organizations, plus more than 50 research institutions, according to China National Space Administration officials. The project will establish a basic robotic lunar base by 2035, with an extended model featuring multiple nodes on the lunar surface and in orbit by 2050.

Meanwhile, the US Artemis Accords have secured 56 signatory nations as of October 2025, including recent additions like Senegal. The accords establish principles for peaceful lunar exploration, though China notably has not signed due to US Congressional restrictions on space cooperation dating to 2011.

Nuclear power plans raise stakes

Both programs are planning nuclear power infrastructure on the Moon. China and Russia announced plans in April 2025 to build an automated nuclear power facility on the lunar surface by 2035, capable of generating significantly more power than NASA's proposed 100-kilowatt reactor.

NASA is fast-tracking its own nuclear reactor development for 2030 deployment, partly motivated by concerns that China could establish "keep-out zones" around their installations.

The competition extends beyond national prestige to strategic resource control. "There's room for two powers under schemes of coordination, but there's not room in an uncoordinated environment," warned Thomas González Roberts, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

International frameworks including the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and 1979 Moon Agreement prohibit national appropriation of celestial bodies, but experts debate whether resource extraction constitutes appropriation.

The Artemis Accords attempt to address this through "safety zones" around operations, though critics argue these could create de facto territorial claims.

As both nations prepare for what could determine lunar dominance for decades, the race reflects broader US-China strategic competition extending from Earth to the final frontier.