In an interview that sounded less like science news and more like the early scenes of a space opera, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson made headlines by suggesting China might attempt to claim parts of the Moon as its own. Speaking to Politico, Nelson offered a cosmically cautious take on Beijing’s advances in space exploration, implying that China might pull an interplanetary land grab and slap a celestial “Private Property” sign on the lunar surface.
Nelson said, rather ominously, “We must be very concerned that China is landing on the Moon and saying: ‘It’s ours now and you stay out’.” A sentiment which might send one reaching for an old copy of the Outer Space Treaty, that 1967 agreement where over 100 countries, China included, promised not to treat the Moon like beachfront property during spring break.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry was quick to respond with the kind of diplomatic scolding that translates roughly to “Seriously?” declaring that the U.S. side should “stop smearing China’s normal and reasonable outer space undertakings.” They also pointed to the mission of China’s space program involving peaceful development, cooperation and apparently some unconvincing poker faces at lunar meetings.
China has indeed been ramping up its presence in orbit and beyond. It successfully landed a rover named Chang’e 4 on the far side of the Moon in 2019, returned Moon samples to Earth in 2020 and is eyeing a crewed Moon mission sometime this decade. The U.S. is also headed in that direction with its Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon by 2025 and presumably to ensure nobody plants a flag with any fine print.
Some experts, however, see Nelson’s warning as more about policy influence than imminent lunar squatting. Former NASA official Scott Pace noted that “space is big,” a reminder both of astrophysics and real estate, and pointed out that orbital positioning and location around the Moon’s south pole could become valuable, especially for resources like ice. Ice, of course, being the space faring world’s version of oil, except chillier and less flammable.
As for claiming the Moon, no one is really holding their breath yet. It turns out that intergovernmental treaties, public pressure and the vacuum of space make property disputes a bit difficult to enforce. Still, the geopolitical temperature might be rising faster than a Mars lander’s heat shield, so Nelson’s comments may be less about Moon madness and more about messaging Earth-side rivals to play nicely in the final frontier.
After all, there is only one Moon and sharing has never been humanity’s strongest suit.