China is hiding ‘secretive’ military projects in space, Nasa boss claims as pair race for Moon’s mysterious south pole

CHINA is hiding secret military projects in space, which could see Beijing attempt to claim the Moon as it’s own territory, Nasa’s boss has warned.

Space agency chief Bill Nelson has been outspoken about his fears surrounding China’s activities in space – which Beijing says is purely scientific.

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But Nelson claims Beijing has other intentions.

“We believe that a lot of their so-called civilian space programme is a military programme,” he told the House Committee on Appropriations on Wednesday.

“China has made extraordinary strides, especially in the last 10 years, but they are very, very secretive.”

Under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, China spent roughly $14billion (11.2billion) on its ambitious space programme in 2023, according to Statista.

Both the US and China are accelerating their efforts to securing their own permanent bases on the Moon.

In early March, scientists at the China National Space Administration revealed the country’s plans to build a Disneyland-sized lunar base with a CCTV system that’s powerful enough to see activity on Earth.

My concern would be if China got there first and said, ‘This is our territory, you stay out.’

Bill Nelson, Nasa administrator

While giving evidence during a committee hearing to approve Nasa’s £20.3bn ($25.4bn) budget request for 2025, Nelson was asked about China’s “very significant investments” in their homegrown space programmes.

“We are in a race,” said Nelson.

“The latest date they’ve said they’re going to land [on the moon] is 2030 but that keeps moving up.

“It is incumbent on us to get there first and to utilise our research efforts for peaceful purposes.”

The Nasa boss announced earlier this year that the US agency is now targeting September 2026 for its Artemis III mission, the first human assignment on the Moon since Apollo 17.

For a long time, Nelson considered China its most capable opponent in getting boots on the Moon by the end of the decade.

Although, Nelson has since said it believes the US will pip China to the post – despite their increasing haste.

In the committee, Nelson echoed concerns he voiced at the beginning of the year, which suggest China may attempt to claim parts of the Moon if it builds a base there first.

China’s military presence in the South China Sea signals how the country might behave on the lunar surface, Nelson has previously claimed, which would breach the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

“My concern would be if China got there first and said, ‘This is our territory, you stay out’,” he warned.

“Obviously you don’t want to interfere with each other but don’t declare that this whole territory is suddenly yours.”

Aggression in space

Similar to the Outer Space Treaty, the Artemis Accords is an agreement that attempts to assure peace in space and on other planets.

It has been signed by more than 40 countries including the UK.

However, China has not signed on to the agreement.

“I would hope that the Chinese space programme will come to its senses and understand that civilian space is for peaceful uses but we have not seen that demonstrated,” said Nelson.

“We’ve got to be realistic that China is throwing a lot of money at [it’s space programme] and they’ve got a lot of room to grow.

“Their science is good, their engineering is good and the proof is in the pudding. They’ve now got a space station up there.”

The Chinese-owned Tiangong space station was completed in late 2022, and has been permanently manned since then.

Meanwhile, Nasa is racing to replace its ageing ISS and build a first-of-its-kind lunar space station.

China has doubled the number of satellites it has in orbit since 2019, according to the US Defence Intelligence Agency.

Just last week, a top US Space Force commander warned of China’s monster network of tracking satellites that can be used to monitor western military operations on the ground.

It’s this fear that trigged action towards Space Force’s first military exercise in orbit, which aims to test how it might fend off “on-orbit aggression” from adversaries.

The country is also developing giant spy balloons and hypersonic missiles.

Nasa's race to replace the ISS

The ISS is getting old.

And by the end of the decade, it will need to be pulled from orbit to meet its watery grave in the ocean.

Fortunately, Nasa has been preparing for this for some time.

In December 2021, the US space agency announced it was awarding a total of $415million (£326million) to three different companies — Blue Origin, Nanoracks (plus Voyager Space) and Northrop Grumman — to help cement their commercial space station concepts.

Nasa also has a separate agreement with Texas-based Axiom Space, which is working on its own private outpost as well as a new series of spacesuits.

While Voyager has officially mapped out how it’s going to get Starlab into orbit – Blue Origin, in collaboration with Sierra Space, is in test mode for its own outpost.

In September, Blue Origin’s ISS replacement exploded in a fifth intentionally destructive test.

The test was designed to tech both companies how to build a space station that won’t fatally explode in orbit.

Northtop Grumman had initially had its own plans for a space station when Nasa funded it.

However, the company dropped its idea in October, to assist Voyager Space with Starlab instead.