It is noted that over the past decade, China has accelerated its space program, focusing on the exploration of the moon.
For example, China made its first uncrewed moon landing in 2013 and plans to launch rockets powerful enough to send astronauts to the moon by the end of this decade.
“We should be very concerned that China is landing on the moon and saying, ‘Now it’s ours, you stay away,'” NASA administrator Bill Nelson told the German newspaper Bild.
The head of the US space agency has said that China’s space program is military and that China has stolen ideas and technology from others.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian noted that this is not the first time that the head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration has spoken irresponsibly about China.
“The US side has constantly launched a smear campaign against China’s normal and reasonable efforts in space, and China strongly opposes such irresponsible remarks,” he said.
Zhao Lijian states that China has always contributed to building a common future for humanity in space and opposed the creation of weapons and any arms race in space.
In addition, as part of the Artemis program, NASA plans to send a crewed mission to orbit the moon in 2024 and land with a crew near the south pole of the moon by 2025. China is planning uncrewed missions to the Moon’s South Pole within this decade.
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