NASA Administrator Bill Nelson warns China could claim the moon as one of its territories.
In an interview with POLITICO published Sunday, the NASA chief says he and several members of the space agency are increasingly considering China’s plans when they go to the moon.
“It is a fact: we are in a space race. And it’s true that we have to be careful that they don’t get a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it cannot be ruled out that they will say: “Stay away, we are here, it is our territory,” he explains in an interview.
As an example, Bill Nelson cites the military expansion of the communist country in the South China Sea.
“If you have any doubts, look at what they did to the Spratly Islands,” says the NASA administrator.
The US and China space programs are working hard to get to the moon in the next few years.
In November, NASA flew the Orion spacecraft around the moon as part of the Artemis 1 mission.
The space agency plans to send astronauts to the lunar surface by 2025.
For its part, China completed construction of the new Tiangong space station and sent three astronauts there in November.
The country plans to send three missions to the moon in the coming decades. China claims to have discovered a new lunar mineral that could be used as an energy source.