China is Weaponizing the Moon
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What if the first permanent human outpost on the moon doesn't have a NASA patch or a United States flag, but a Chinese flag? What happens if, in just a few years, China isn't just visiting the moon, but controlling where the next chapter of human space activity gets written?

Now Beijing has given its answer. A lunar landing by 2030 and a base by 2035 and a sprawling outpost network by mid-century. Now no vague timelines here, no future possibilities,

It's all written, mapped out, and already in motion. It's a state strategy. And over the past decade, China has transformed from a competent space player to the most aggressive builder of off-world infrastructure since the Cold War.

Its human moon program now has an operational countdown. The Long March 10 super heavy rocket is already in development. So is the new crewed lander. And they're developing lunar grade EVA suits, building new launch infrastructure and finalizing astronaut selections. Now the tone from officials...

Tactically understated. Everything is proceeded in an orderly manner. In China's space lexicon, it's usually assigned things are ahead of schedule.

This all stems from a space program that's been logging serious accomplishments. China landed a rover on the far side of the moon in 2019. It brought back lunar samples in 2020. Its Tiangong space station has been permanently crewed since 2021, and its current planning includes Shenzhou 20 and 21. The

two new crewed missions to orbit that are intended as training grounds for longer-duration deep space operations. The human element is expanding too. China recently inked a deal with Pakistan to train and fly astronauts to Tiangong, the first confirmed foreign visitors to the space station. That move isn't just a nod to international goodwill, it's a signal

China is willing to share its platforms as long as it's in the driver's seat.

And at the heart of this effort is the International Lunar Research Station or ILRS. First announced in 2021 alongside Russia, the project has now become a mostly Chinese-led venture. The plan is methodical and built around two phases. First, a

a basic but operational research facility at the Moon's south pole by 2035, then an expansion into a multi-site lunar system by 2050, featuring nodes at the equator and the far side.

Think of it as less as a moon base and more as a small off-world nation linked together by orbiting hubs and robotic logistics. This is a comprehensive lunar station network that utilizes the lunar orbit station as its central hub and the south pole station as its primary base. And it'll include exploration nodes on the lunar equator and the far side of the moon. It's a blueprint for permanent infrastructure.

But China's not planning to haul up steel and concrete from Earth to build it. That would be logistically absurd. Instead, they're testing the moon's own dirt as a construction material. They recently launched brick samples made from simulated lunar regolith to the Tiangong space station to assess how they'll hold up under deep space conditions, where temperatures swing between 180 and negative 190 degrees Celsius.

The BRICS are a key part of their 2028 mission, which will test in-situ construction using autonomous 3D printed robots nicknamed Chinese Supermasons. That mission will also finalize site selection for the ILRS. China has zeroed in on the lunar South Pole for good reason.

It's one of the few places on the moon where sunlight is nearly continuous, ideal for solar power generation. And it's home to craters that may contain large reserves of water rise. That water can be split into hydrogen and oxygen, essential for breathable air, drinkable water, and also rocket fuel.

Then there's helium-3, a rare isotope trapped in the moon's soil that China sees as the long-term solution to its energy puzzle. It's barely present on Earth, but relatively abundant on the moon. And if nuclear fusion ever crosses the threshold into commercial viability,

Helium-3 could fuel clean reactors with 10 times the energy output of traditional fission, without radioactive waste. Whoever controls Helium-3 controls the future of energy markets. That makes the ILRS not just a science base but a potential mining operation.

Chinese researchers at the Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology are already working on extraction techniques. And China's Chang'e 6 and 7 missions are focused on identifying helium-3 rich areas ahead of planned harvest trials in the 2030s. This space is not only a platform for lunar science, though. It's also a testbed for human Mars missions. The logic is straightforward.

You prove everything on the moon. China's three-phase space development roadmap released officially in 2024 lays out the progression from Earth orbit to the moon to Mars and beyond. Phase 1, running through 2027, is about building technical competence. Phase 2, 2028 through 2035, moves into human lunar landings and base operations.

Phase 3, targeted in the 2040s and beyond, includes crewed missions to Mars and other deep space destinations. Tianwen-3, China's planned Mars sample return mission, is slated for 2028. If successful, it would beat NASA's equivalent project by a few years. That wouldn't just be a scientific win, it would hand China a major diplomatic talking point as the first country to pull off a round trip to Mars.

Now, and China isn't doing that alone, though. There's 13 countries involved, including Russia, Egypt, Senegal, and they've all signed up for participation in the ILRS. The number could reach 50 by 2050. It's a contrast to the U.S.-led Artemis Accords, which emphasize transparency and rulemaking. Partners can come on board, but it's Beijing's ship.

And the U.S. has repeatedly pointed out that the moon isn't for claiming. 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits sovereign ownership of celestial territory. But the treaty has loopholes. Any country can withdraw with 12 months notice. And while legal scholars debate the letter of the law, China may be preparing to demonstrate a kind of de facto control through infrastructure presence.

not with flags, but with permanent operation. In 2012, a defense analyst report laid out a plausible future scenario in which China could assert operational authority over its lunar territory. Hear that? Spring is back. And so is Church's Seafood. With eight-piece shrimp, surf and turf, or fish sandwich. Each starting at $3.99. Offer valid at participating locations.

citing both strategic necessity and prestige. That hasn't happened yet, though, but now that China is building exactly that kind of base, the scenario seems less speculative. Then there's the military angle.

China's space program is officially civilian, but dual-use technology is hard to ignore. Communication arrays, nuclear power systems, and long-range sensors all serve scientific missions and also military ones. A lunar presence enables space-based surveillance,

logistics control, and cislunar operations that extend far beyond the moon itself. Cislunar space, the volume between Earth and the moon, is quickly becoming the next theater of strategic interest. By controlling infrastructure along that route, China could influence not only lunar operations but future operational traffic, deep space launches, and also satellite networks.

None of these require weapons though, just the ability to observe, respond, and control the flow of information. So why does any of this matter to the rest of the world?

because the Moon is no longer neutral. It's becoming a domain of economic, political, and strategic war competition. Whoever dominates the Moon could shape global access to off-world resources, influence energy markets, and control interplanetary logistics.

It's a live geopolitical issue. It also matters because space law hasn't caught up. Most agreements around celestial activity are decades old and vague by today's standards, with no enforcement mechanics and no global authority managing space conduct. It's infrastructure that sets the rules. And right now, China is the one pouring concrete.

And if China succeeds in building the ILRS by 2035 with mining and power systems in place, by the 2040s, the rest of the world will be negotiating from behind. Not because they lost a race or a war, but because they never ran in it. I want to know what you think about China being ahead of NASA and ahead of the United States in the Artemis program.

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