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The civilian race to the Moon between the United States and China is closer than Washington would like, NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson said Monday, adding that the agency would make an announcement soon.
“We won the first space race in the 60s and early 70s, and right now the space race 2.0 … the civilian space race … is closer than we would like right now,” Anderson told Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of the 77th International Astronautical Congress in Antalya, Türkiye.
“But we’re going to be confident, and we have some exciting news to announce very soon,” he said, without providing details.
China aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030. It has said development of its Long March 10 heavy-lift rocket, Mengzhou crew spacecraft and Lanyue lunar lander is on track.
NASA sent four astronauts around the Moon on its Artemis II mission in April. The agency later changed Artemis III into an Earth-orbit test flight planned for 2027, and now plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface with Artemis IV in 2028. That would be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Anderson, a retired US Air Force colonel, was sworn in as NASA’s 16th deputy administrator in May.
NASA describes lunar plans as a long-term presence
Asked whether the new race was about prestige or science, Anderson said NASA’s focus was “scientific exploration and discovery”. He said the Artemis era was “very different” from the Apollo programme of the 1960s.
“We’re going to the lunar surface to stay, building a permanent presence in a Moon base to learn more about the surface, and ultimately what we call the third space race is pushing on to Mars and beyond,” he said.
Addressing concerns about an arms race in orbit, Anderson said he believed the United States was leading in all three sectors of space. He distinguished NASA’s work from military operations, which are handled by the US Space Force and US Space Command, and said the agency welcomed cooperation with other government bodies.
Last month, US Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said the country had “on-orbit space control weapons”, marking the first time a US official had publicly confirmed the existence of weapons in space. Russia and China accused Washington of starting an arms race in space in response.
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits placing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in orbit, but does not explicitly ban conventional weapons.
NASA plans controlled end for the space station
Anderson said NASA was proud of its nearly 26 years of continuous presence in low Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
“When the time comes for the ISS’s days to end, we have already contracted a company to have a very responsible manner of de-orbiting the ISS down to Earth,” he said.
The ISS has been continuously crewed since November 2000. In 2024, NASA selected “SpaceX” to build a dedicated US Deorbit Vehicle under a contract worth up to $843 million. It is designed to guide the station into a controlled re-entry over a remote ocean area when operations end, currently planned for 2030.
On the prospect of data centres in space, Anderson said the cost of reaching orbit remained a major barrier. He said he would welcome efforts by private companies or governments if they could make the business viable and benefit life on Earth.
In January, “SpaceX” asked the US Federal Communications Commission for permission to deploy up to one million satellites that would operate as solar-powered data centres for artificial intelligence.
Asked whether autonomous AI in space was a concern, Anderson said: “No, I don’t think we should be worried about it.” He said President Donald Trump had recently brought together experts in super intelligence to discuss the issue and expressed confidence that the technology would be managed well under US leadership.
Trump hosted technology executives at the White House on Sept. 29, where companies signed a voluntary, non-binding agreement called the White House Accord on Super Intelligence. His administration has been promoting the term “super intelligence” in place of “artificial intelligence”.
Anderson also welcomed Türkiye’s recent entry into the Artemis Accords, saying the country could contribute to plans to build a lunar base and involve its engineers, scientists and potentially astronauts.
Türkiye signed the accords at NASA headquarters in Washington on Sept. 1, becoming the 71st signatory. Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacir signed on behalf of the country.
Launched in 2020 by the United States and seven founding countries, the non-binding accords set out principles for safe, transparent and peaceful civil exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond.
“Space is a national priority, and clearly, with signing the Artemis Accords, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership, it is a national priority for Türkiye,” Anderson said. He added that NASA looked forward to working with Türkiye.
Türkiye plans to launch its first domestically built lunar spacecraft in early 2027, according to Kacir. Turkish astronaut Alper Gezeravci travelled to the ISS in January 2024 as the country’s first person in space.
Anderson said his agenda at the congress in Antalya included building trust, teamwork and training with other Artemis Accords countries. He said the event offered NASA and other space agencies an opportunity to identify shared objectives.
The International Astronautical Congress runs from Oct. 5 to 9. It is organised by the International Astronautical Federation and hosted by the Turkish Space Agency, with SAHA Istanbul as co-host. It is the first time Türkiye has hosted the congress.
