Former NASA Administrator Bill Nelson warns in his forthcoming memoir that China aims to dominate space as the strategic high ground of the 21st century, calling it a new space race with stakes higher than the Cold War. He also recounts NASA's role in helping the military down a Chinese spy balloon in 2023, framing it as a warning of intensifying US-China competition beyond Earth's atmosphere.
Background
The US-China space competition has intensified significantly in recent years, with China establishing its own space station and conducting ambitious lunar missions including sample returns from the far side of the Moon.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Sep 24, 2026 at 01:10 AM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10