NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman does not hedge about China. Speaking on CBS’s Face the Nation on July 6, he said Washington is in a race with Beijing to put astronauts back on the Moon, and that the distance between the two schedules is “months, not years.”
“It is not arguably. Like, there — we are very much in a space race right now, and the Chinese are moving at incredible speeds,” he said. Then the line that carried the strategic weight: “The Chinese will land their taikonauts on the moon. There’s no question. The question is, will the United States return before them.”
Two calendars, a narrow gap
The arithmetic is simple. China has said it will land astronauts before 2030. The United States is aiming for the end of 2028. “They said before 2030… we’re saying end of 2028 is when we’re targeting the landing. That is months, not years,” Isaacman said.
China is not starting from a standing position. Its crewed program keeps advancing at the Tiangong space station, and it recently launched the Shenzhou 23 crew spacecraft and docked it there. Isaacman suggested Beijing could accomplish what the Soviet Union never did in the original space race, though he framed this contest around timing, execution and who gets crews onto the surface first.
On the American side, the path runs through Artemis. Isaacman said the Trump administration has made lunar exploration a national priority with a “historic investment” in the program. Artemis III is planned for next year and will test key systems for the landing. Artemis IV follows in 2028, when astronauts are expected to land after the new landing systems are tried out in Earth orbit. “We are going back,” he said. “It will be an unbelievable display.”
Beyond the flag
The calculus extends past a single landing. NASA wants a lasting presence on the Moon and plans to use the surface as a proving ground for Mars. Isaacman said lunar base infrastructure could begin arriving as early as 2027, and by 2028 crews should find equipment waiting, including a lunar terrain vehicle and the first pieces of permanent infrastructure. “Early 2030s, the moon is going to be like the International Space Station,” he said, with crews staying for extended periods.
Commercial launch companies are central to that plan. Isaacman said private providers have cut the cost of reaching space, and he pointed to an experimental mission to rescue the ageing Swift space telescope as an example of what cheaper launches make possible.
There is at least one visible snag. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket suffered a recent launch failure, and Isaacman acknowledged the delays that follow. NASA is helping with the investigation, he said, and work on future lunar missions continues. “They’re going to solve that,” he said. “NASA’s there to help.”
Sources
- NASA Chief Says China is Moving Fast as US Targets 2028 Moon Landing
- US in renewed Moon race with China, timeline now measured in months: NASA chief
