Opinion Analysis by Johnny Achkar, Staff Writer

July 11th, 2021

The United States and the Soviet Union were in the midst of a Cold War when Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell returned to Earth in 1974, placing the planet's survival in doubt. Mitchell, on the other hand, viewed things from a different perspective. “From out there on the moon, international politics appear so petty,” he told People magazine. Today, the space agencies of the United States and Russia collaborate more than the governments that pay them. Furthermore, the United States and Russia were the first countries to have the financial means to pursue their space goals. They were the only countries with such capability for most of the space race. Although China's rise to global superpower occurred later, its space agency now has the resources and knowledge to begin challenging the long-standing duopoly.

Considering various countries have different space development strategies, the new space race is largely a competition to see who can come up with the best method. This represents the distinct nature of the so-called Space Age 2.0, which appears to be more diversified than the first and in which non-US actors, both public and private, play a significant role, particularly Asian performers. If China is at the front of the pack, so is its vision. China has previously implemented five-year space programs, the most recent of which concluded in 2020 with more than 140 launches. There are other missions in the works, including a new orbital space station, the retrieval of Martian samples, and a Jupiter exploration trip.

China has publicly proclaimed its intention to become a world leader in space. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has put a man in space, launched, and briefly docked with its own station, and settled a lander on the moon since its creation in 1993. It wants to work with other countries on manned missions to the moon and Mars. For the time being, the United States is not one of those countries, due to a clause in the federal budget for 2011, NASA is basically barred from collaborating with China. Beijing's progress has not been limited by this. The country now devotes more than 2% of its annual gross domestic product to science, surpassing the Russians' 2% in 2004 and approaching the 2.74 percent that the United States devotes to science each year.

 In 2020, NASA introduced the Artemis Accords, an international pact that allows countries or companies to build exclusive zones on the moon when the potential of mining on the moon shifted from science fantasy to a solvable logistical task. The treaties were attacked by the Global Times, an official Communist Party organ, as supporting a US "political aim of lunar colonization."

While US space experts such as NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated China on its remarkable achievements, they also expressed caution, with Nelson describing China as a "very competitive competitor." During a May 19 congressional hearing, Nelson offered a stark warning to US lawmakers, holding up a snapshot from Mars taken by China's Zhurong rover. He remarked of China, "I want you to see this image... it is a very tough opponent." Nelson seemed to imply that China's space achievement puts greater pressure on NASA to return to the moon and land humans.

NASA is now working on returning humans to the lunar surface and establishing a long-term human presence on the moon through the Artemis program by the end of the decade. Nelson highlighted his concerns about China's advancement to argue for more money for NASA. He stated, "NASA can't accomplish it by itself…. and we want a competitive environment, but we need the funds to do it." Some have also criticized China's haphazard and reckless behavior, notably in regard to the trash it leaves behind while pursuing its space aspirations. After spending some time in orbit, a rocket booster China used to propel part of its space station fell down to Earth in May. Unlike other rockets, its duration in orbit made it impossible to predict when or where it would fall, causing widespread outrage.

So, where do we go from here? As the United States continues its numerous space endeavors, China continues to construct its space station and investigate Mars and the moon. Collaboration is heavily restricted due to Wolf Amendment. The law prevents NASA from utilizing government funds to participate in direct bilateral cooperation with the Chinese government. Despite governmental restrictions on information sharing, scientists will publish articles regarding Zhurong's discoveries on Mars. Because there is no direct information transmission between the two countries, this is a tiny method for scientists in the United States and others to profit from exploration, regardless of whose country's rover acquired the data. As both countries continue to push the boundaries of science and technology in space, the rivalry appears to have surpassed the partnership.

President Biden must decide whether to confront China over its space projects or to find methods to reduce tensions and even expand the partnership. Wendy Whitman Cobb, an associate professor at the United States Air Force's School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, says there has been precedent for countries putting their differences on the ground aside in space, citing the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission in 1975 during the Cold War. She says, "I don't think cooperation with China is impossible….history has shown us that it can be done.”