One of the factors that drove the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs in the '60s was competition with the Soviet Union. Shortly after the Russians launched Sputnik, the idea of a "red moon" hanging in America's sky bothered many in the U.S., and the federal government morphed the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The space race was born.
Even though the competitive nature of the space race allowed 12 Americans to set foot on the moon between 1969 and 1972, the threat of the Soviets taking over the moon and possibly weaponizing it was a genuine fear in the Cold War era. It inspired JFK to set the goal of reaching the moon by decade's end.
Nowadays, we worry about a Chinese threat to space. The CCP's designs on space go beyond our wildest Cold War dreams.
"Over the past decade, China has fielded hundreds of military communications, intelligence, missile warning, and navigation satellites to enable its overall military modernization and build space-enabled kill webs to find, track, and target U.S. forces," write Audrey Schaffer and Kari A. Bingen of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "During the same period, China has advanced its ability to deny U.S. space advantages, developing a robust, full-spectrum suite of counter-space weapons designed to deter U.S. military intervention in a crisis and blunt U.S. combat power in a conflict."
Four years ago, NASA established the Artemis Accords to encourage nations to sign on to cooperation in space exploration. The eight original signatories were Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
NASA explains:
NASA, in coordination with the U.S. Department of State and seven other initial signatory nations, established the Artemis Accords in 2020. With many countries and private companies conducting missions and operations around the Moon, the Artemis Accords provide a common set of principles to enhance the governance of the civil exploration and use of outer space.
The Artemis Accords reinforce the commitment by signatory nations to the Outer Space Treaty, the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior for civil space exploration and use.
Seventeen countries have signed onto the Artemis Accords in 2024 alone. While many of these nations don't have much of a presence to speak of in space, they are committed to cooperation and peaceful exploration.
Related: NASA Sets Artemis Moon Mission Timelines
NASA recently celebrated the 49th and 50th signatories to the Artemis Accords. Austria and Panama signed on this month, pledging (in NASA's words) "to commit to the responsible exploration of space for all humanity."
"NASA welcomes Panama and Austria to the Artemis Accords community and celebrates 50 countries united by shared principles for the safe and responsible exploration of space," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. "More than ever before, NASA is opening space to more nations and more people for the benefit of all. Together we are building long-term and peaceful deep space exploration for the Artemis Generation."
Naturally, today's NASA ensures that the Artemis Accords aren't just about peacefully exploring beyond Earth's atmosphere. There are provisions for "sustainability" as well, including "debris management." It's not enough to explore space in peace; we have to get rid of space junk as well.
Nations like Japan and India that have their own designs for space exploration have signed on, but one nation is glaringly missing: China. Our biggest and most nefarious competitor in space probably will never sign the Artemis Accords, and it's hard not to imagine that China would weaponize any territory it claims in space. China would probably pollute space without thinking twice, too.
So are the Artemis Accords just for show when we have a legitimate enemy that is hellbent on using space for nefarious purposes?