China continues to increase its capabilities in space, and disguises a military space program under the appearance of a civilian program, the head of NASA accused on Wednesday.
“China has made enormous progress, particularly in the last 10 years, but it is very, very secretive,” Bill Nelson told a House spending committee in Washington. “We believe that a lot of what they call their civilian space program is actually a military program,” he said.
“I would like China, the Chinese space program, to come to its senses and understand that civil space is made for peaceful use. But we have not seen China demonstrate that,” he added.
“I think we really shouldn’t let our guard down.”
According to him, the United States is now engaged in a “race” with Beijing. He stressed that the United States must succeed in landing on the Moon before the Chinese. He said he was “worried” that China would “get there first, and suddenly say, this is our territory.”
The United States plans to land astronauts on the Moon in 2026 with their Artemis 3 mission. China also plans to send humans there by 2030. Bill Nelson was heard by American elected officials during the request annual budget for the American space agency.
Asked by one of them about the consequences of a potential loss of leadership of the United States in space to China, he affirmed that this should not happen, while warning: “But we have to be realistic. China is investing a lot of money in this.” And added: “I think we really shouldn’t let our guard down.”