In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union took an early lead in the space race by achieving several major historical milestones. But in 1969, when American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the lunar surface, the U.S. overtook the Soviets.
The space race was a vital test of national security and ideological power at the time, proving that America could out-innovate Soviet communism. By reaching the moon first, the U.S. secured global prestige, jump-started its high-tech economy and ensured its military would not be left behind in the new "high ground" of space.
Now, some 60 years later, the U.S. is in another race, this time to return humans to the moon for the first time in over 50 years through NASA's Artemis program and eventually establish a base on its south pole before China, which is meanwhile trying to get the U.S. not to compete in artificial intelligence and aims to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.
The recent success of Artemis II's trip around the moon was a first step.
"Building moon colonies is absolutely critical to the future of the United States because if you can control the moon, you can get to Mars," says Gordon Chang, an Asian policy analyst. "Also, you control cislunar space, which is the space between moon and Earth. And if you do that, you control Low Earth Orbits. You control Low Earth Orbits, you control the earth."
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is the region closest to Earth, making it the most accessible and cost-effective area for satellites and human spaceflight. Its proximity allows for high-speed internet and detailed Earth imaging with minimal signal delay.
Dominance in LEO is considered a central instrument of national power, providing the U.S. with critical military resilience, economic growth and geopolitical influence.
Chang reiterates that this moon race is "absolutely essential" and says the U.S. is currently leading the Chinese on two fronts.
"We're ahead in the race to the moon, as we saw with Artemis II. More important, we've got a bigger lead in the race for the moon because we have more lift capacity than China does," he notes. "We're ahead in that race thanks to … Elon Musk."
Chang says from a military, technological and economic point of view, getting to the south pole of the moon first is critical.
