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NASA is racing to establish a permanent human presence on the moon as the U.S. looks to beat China’s ambitions on the lunar surface amid intensifying competition in space.
The Trump administration’s push for a roughly $20 billion moon base marks a major shift in NASA’s strategy, moving away from plans for a lunar-orbiting space station and toward building infrastructure directly on the moon as a long-term foothold for deep space exploration.
“This time, the goal is not flags and footprints,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said as he outlined the plan. “This time, the goal is to stay.”
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“The reason you want to have a lunar base is that it acts as a focal point of our ongoing efforts to not just be around the Earth, but go into deep space,” Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society space exploration nonprofit, told Digital. “It’s like the reason that we have our base stations in Antarctica.”
Dreier said a sustained presence on the moon would allow the U.S. to store supplies, build out infrastructure and expand its capabilities over time in ways that are not possible with a station orbiting the moon.
NASA is racing to establish a permanent human presence on the moon as the U.S. looks to beat China’s ambitions on the lunar surface amid intensifying competition in space. (Austin DeSisto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The shift also reflects a recalibration of NASA’s earlier plans, which centered on the Gateway program — a proposed space station in orbit around the moon that had been a cornerstone of the Artemis program but faced delays, funding uncertainty and growing questions about its necessity.
Originally envisioned as a staging point for astronauts traveling to and from the lunar surface, Gateway was designed to serve as a communications hub and transfer point in orbit. NASA is now redirecting resources toward building infrastructure directly on the lunar surface instead.
While the new approach sharpens NASA’s focus, Dreier cautioned that the administration’s timeline and budget remain highly ambitious.
“Probably not,” he said when asked whether $20 billion would be enough to build and sustain a lunar base. “It’s an ambitious level.”
Dreier added that the roughly seven-year timeline is aggressive, particularly given the technical challenges of operating on the moon, suggesting the effort may begin with a limited initial presence that expands over time.
China has successfully carried out robotic sample return missions, launching material from the lunar surface back to Earth — a technically demanding feat that underscores its growing capabilities. (Li Jieyi/VCG via Getty Images)
China is aiming to land astronauts on the moon by around 2030, a milestone that would mark its first crewed lunar mission and significantly expand its presence beyond Earth orbit.
The push for a lunar base comes as China also rapidly advances its own capabilities, conducting increasingly complex robotic missions and laying the groundwork for a long-term presence on the moon.
“They have gone from launching one or two satellites or space science satellites to launching dozens,” Dreier said. “They have landed huge amounts of mass now on the moon, on the far side of the moon.”
He noted that China has also successfully carried out robotic sample return missions, launching material from the lunar surface back to Earth — a technically demanding feat that underscores its growing capabilities.
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“They’re developing their capability very fast,” Dreier said. “That is more capability than the United States has at the moon right now.”
“At the Moon, China actually has the advantage right now,” he added.
“They have gone from launching one or two satellites or space science satellites to launching dozens,” Dreier said. “They have landed huge amounts of mass now on the moon, on the far side of the moon.”
China is working with international partners, including Russia, on plans for a long-term presence near the lunar south pole — a region believed to contain water ice and other key resources.
“We find ourselves with a real geopolitical rival, challenging American leadership in the high ground of space,” Isaacman said.
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Dreier said the push to build sustained operations on the moon could also strengthen broader U.S. capabilities in space, particularly as orbit becomes more contested.
“The moon is the ultimate high ground,” he said. “If we have to have space contested, let’s make it a race to the moon … rather than something far more direct and destructive in the Earth orbit.”
Digital reached out to NASA for comment.
