Both the US and China have advanced plans to send astronauts to the Moon and to establish permanent bases on the lunar surface. In an interview published in January 2023, NASA's top official, Bill Nelson, claimed the two nations' rivalry mirrors that which took place between the US and the Soviet Union in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Known as the Space Race, it began with the Soviet Union's launch of the world's first satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957 and ended with the US's successful Apollo manned lunar landings in the 60s and 70s. The Space Race took place against the background of the Cold War (1945–91)—a period of hostility between the two powers who nevertheless never fought each other directly. This time, both the US and China's space programmes are geared towards potentially exploiting the Moon's mineral resources and, in the case of the US, the first step in their bid to send a crewed mission to Mars.

​​​​​​​10th January 2023

China's space programme

China's space programme began in 1993 with the founding of China National Space Administration (CNSA). Despite lagging several decades behind the US, China has caught up rapidly. in January 2019 it became the first nation to land a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon with Chang'e 4.  In December 2020, Chang'e 5 became the first uncrewed mission to successfully collect and return lunar soil to Earth.
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Future Chang'e missions are scheduled to explore the Moon's south pole region, searching for potentially useful resources, such as the metal titanium and an isotope of helium, considered an ideal fuel for future nuclear fusion power plants. The missions will also test the technology necessary for the construction of a lunar base—the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), a joint project with Russia—scheduled for around 2035.
​​​​​​​China is also planning for a crewed lunar landing mission to take place in around 2030.

China's new space station, Tiangong ("Palace in the Sky"), became fully operational on 29th November 2022 with the launch of a Shenzhou 15 spacecraft delivering a crew of three taikonauts (Chinese astronauts) to begin research work there.

​​​​​​​The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is working on what it calls the next-generation crewed spacecraft: a type of re-usable spacecraft designed both to ferry taikonauts to Tiangong in Earth orbit, then later to the Moon. Intended to replace the Shenzhou spacecraft, the prototype of the new spacecraft—as yet unnamed—underwent its first uncrewed test flight on 5th May 2020. It is expected to have crewed flight capability in around 2025.

Artemis programme

Artemis, named after the Greek goddess of the Moon and twin sister to Apollo, is a successor to the US Apollo programme. This achieved six manned lunar landings at the height of the Space Race with the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s. At the centre of the new Artemis programme is NASA's new launch vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and the Orion spacecraft, a capsule inside which the astronauts will travel to and from lunar orbit.

The first Artemis mission, an uncrewed spaceflight to test both the safety of the SLS rocket and Orion's ability to go into in lunar orbit and return to Earth for an ocean splashdown, was successfully achieved in December 2022.

The second Artemis mission, scheduled for 2024, will see the Orion capsule carrying the first four astronauts on 10-day mission around the Moon (but not landing on it) and return to Earth. The object is to ensure all the spacecraft's systems work perfectly while carrying humans.

The object of the third mission, currently scheduled for 2025, is to land two astronauts—including the first woman and the first person of colour—on to the lunar surface. They will remain on the Moon, exploring its south polar region, for around a week. This area is believed to have the highest abundance of water ice on the lunar surface. Liquid water from this source could be vital for human exploration farther into space—both as a source of oxygen for rocket fuel and for sustaining human life. The Artemis 3 crew lander, which will carry the astronauts down to the lunar surface, is to be a variant of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft called Starship HLS (Human Landing System).

The Artemis programme has other, farther-reaching plans. They include the deployment of the Lunar Gateway, a new space station in orbit around the Moon, that would provide a platform for scientific experiments. It would also serve as a base for a series of trips down to the lunar surface. Astronauts will travel there in the Starship HLS.

The programme's long-term goal is to establish a permanent lunar base camp, from which to launch crewed missions to Mars by the 2040s.

Outer Space Treaty

Could either China or the US legally claim territory elsewhere in space? If such claims are disputed, it could lead to conflict between them. However, both countries, along with 132 others, are signatories to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which states that "Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means."