The NASA administrator has warned that China is using civilian programs to enhance its space capabilities to hide its military goals, and the US government must remain vigilant.
“China has made tremendous progress, especially in the last 10 years, but it's very secretive,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
“We believe that a lot of their so-called civilian space programs are military programs. And in effect, I think we're in a race,” Nelson added.
He said he hoped the Chinese government would “come to its senses and understand that civilian space is for peaceful use,” but added, “We don't see China showing that.” I've never done that before,” he added.
Nelson's comments came as he testified before the House Appropriations Committee about NASA's 2025 budget.
He said the United States should re-land on the moon before China, as both countries pursue lunar exploration. However, he expressed concern that if China arrived first, China “could say, 'Okay, this is our territory, you can leave.'”
Nelson has previously said the US is in a “space race” with China and warned that China could eventually claim to “own” resource-rich areas of the moon.
China's space program will establish an Earth-orbiting space station in 2022 and is conducting multiple lunar orbit and sample recovery missions.
Since then, the United States has planned to return astronauts to the moon in 2026 with the Artemis III mission. China says it wants to send humans to the moon by 2030.
Nelson said he was confident the United States would not lose its “global advantage” in space exploration.
“But we have to be realistic,” he said. “China is really spending a lot of money, and there's a lot of room for expansion in the budget.
“I think it's best not to let your guard down.”
