A US-China Battle on the Moon Is Possible, and Avoidable
As global space ambitions grow, there will be inevitable conflicts over lunar territory unless nations take steps now to find common ground for cooperation.
Finding common ground on the moon.
Photographer: STR/AFP via Getty Images
Who owns the moon? The question sounds preposterous, but a few weeks ago NASA stumbled into it by releasing a list of potential lunar landing and exploration sites for its upcoming Artemis missions. It turns out that some of those sites are also being considered by the Chinese space program for its ambitious lunar exploration program. Both countries envision the moon — and those sites — as possible locations for long-term settlements and resource exploitation.
Happily, there's little chance of lunar war in the near term; it's not even clear when either country will be ready to land humans on the moon. But as advancing technology and ambition enables countries and companies to seek out the most promising landing sites, plans will inevitably overlap. Without trust and a means to manage competing claims, the long-term human quest to explore and settle the moon could stall — or even devolve into conflict.