Space exploration and cislunar: the Moon race, Mars, and the space between

What it is

The exploration and cislunar beat covers crewed and robotic missions beyond low Earth orbit: the volume between Earth and the Moon (cislunar space, roughly 400,000 km deep), the lunar surface itself, and Mars. A world-news reader tracks this beat because the Moon is again a site of active geopolitical competition, not merely scientific inquiry. Cislunar space has no settled governance framework and direct military-strategic relevance: states that can operate there persistently can surveil or interfere with the satellites underpinning GPS, communications, and reconnaissance. The beat spans government programs, commercial contracts worth tens of billions of US dollars, and a diplomatic alignment contest reshaping how much of the world gravitates toward US or Chinese-led space governance.

History

Apollo 17 was the last crewed lunar landing, in December 1972; no human has returned to the surface since. The Soviet Union's rival N1 Moon rocket failed four times and was cancelled in 1976. Mars exploration began with US flybys in 1965; NASA's Curiosity rover landed in August 2012 and Perseverance in February 2021.

China's lunar program opened with Chang'e 1 in 2007. Chang'e 4, in January 2019, made the first landing on the Moon's far side. Chang'e 5, in December 2020, returned the first new lunar samples in 44 years. Chang'e 6, in June 2024, returned the first far-side surface samples ever collected.

NASA's Artemis program, authorized by the 2010 NASA Authorization Act and reoriented toward a crewed Moon landing by a December 2017 space policy directive, flew its first uncrewed mission, Artemis I, in November 2022. The Artemis Accords, a US State Department-backed bilateral governance framework, launched in October 2020 with eight signatories and grew to 68 nations by late June 2026. China and Russia have not signed.

Current state

Artemis II, April 1-10, 2026, flew four astronauts on a lunar flyby, reaching 695,081 miles from Earth, the farthest any humans had traveled since 1970. In February 2026 NASA restructured: Artemis III, now targeting mid-2027, is redesigned as an Earth-orbit lander demonstration where Orion docks with test versions of SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System and Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2. The first crewed lunar landing moves to Artemis IV, targeted for early 2028. NASA's Inspector General warned in March 2026 that both landers face schedule risks that "have the potential to further impact lander costs and delivery schedules."

China's Chang'e 7 was delivered to Wenchang Space Launch Center in April 2026, awaiting a launch window in the second half of 2026. Its target is the rim of Shackleton crater at the lunar south pole, where a hopping probe will fly into permanently shadowed regions to search for water ice, directly contesting the same site Artemis is targeting.

China's Tianwen-2, launched May 28, 2025, entered orbit around the near-Earth quasi-moon Kamoʻoalewa on June 7, 2026, and began surface sample collection on July 4, 2026. Tianwen-3, a Mars sample-return mission, plans a 2028 launch with Earth return around 2031. NASA's Perseverance rover continues caching Martian samples that have no funded return vehicle as of mid-2026.

Relationships

The three tracked entities share a single competitive dynamic. Artemis is now in its lander qualification phase, with the first surface mission contingent on two commercial vehicles that are both behind schedule. Chang'e 7 is the direct rival at the same south-pole target. Tiangong supplies China with crew-training and life-support experience feeding its crewed lunar timeline. Tianwen-2's July 2026 sample attempt at Kamoʻoalewa is an operational rehearsal for the more complex Tianwen-3 Mars return. Botswana's June 2025 Accords accession signals how broadly the US framework reaches into sub-Saharan Africa.

What to watch

Chang'e 7's second-half 2026 launch window is the nearest signal: a successful south-pole landing and water-ice detection would sharpen pressure on NASA's 2028 timeline. Watch for any Artemis IV slip past early 2028, which would open the possibility of China's 2030 crewed landing arriving near-simultaneously with the first US return. On Mars, a US decision on funding a sample-return vehicle is overdue; without it, Perseverance's surface caches wait while Tianwen-3 proceeds. Tianwen-3's April 2026 international partner list is a leading indicator of how many nations align with China's governance model over the Artemis Accords.