Recently, US President Joe Biden made a statement that after the war between Ukraine and Russia, global geopolitics is being affected and its impact will be seen outside the earth as well. The meaning of this statement is big because the trend of geopolitics will be seen on the moon outside the earth. All this is coming to the fore when experts have been discussing for a long time that America and China will be seen giving a tough competition to each other in the world of space and on the moon in the coming days.
A new era of competition between China and America
In fact, in a report on China and America’s competition over the minerals present on the moon, the Indian Express has published a very detailed and researched report on this issue, quoting Bloomberg. More than half a century ago, as in the era of Sputnik and Apollo, once again the world’s biggest leaders have started racing for supremacy in space. Although the United States and the Soviet Union have long ago prepared a set of rules on this at the United Nations, the next generation of superpowers may now have overtaken it.
Resources potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars on the moon
The competition between the US and China on space research has started and this has happened after the rapid rise of China. Citing an example, the report pointed out that with emerging markets such as Rwanda and the Philippines, billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are launching more and more satellites to explore digital and commercial opportunities. But the stakes are even higher when it comes to the US and China. This ideological divide extends to extracting potentially hundreds of billions of dollars worth of resources to the Moon and elsewhere.
The roadmap of the moon between the two superpowers!
Last year, where China launched the first module for its indigenous space station. China wants to challenge the American rule in space through this station. Not only this, China has raised its flag by successfully landing on the Moon more than four times in the last decade. On the other hand, America is the only country that has landed a man on the moon. Although it is not that only China wants to send humans to the moon, but America, Russia, India, Canada and South Korea are also busy in this race.
NASA’s important mission to the moon
The US space agency NASA is also planning to land humans on the moon again through its Artemis mission. NASA is starting work on the Artemis mission. According to NASA scientists, this mission is going to be the most special and important mission of this decade, which will usher in a new era in the field of space exploration. NASA says that even though this mission is starting from the moon, it will prove to be a boon for Mars missions in the near future.
why so early to reach the moon
Through research from time to time, it has been found that many precious metals are present under the surface of the moon. A treasure trove of gold and platinum are buried just below the surface. Apart from this, many other metals found on earth like titanium, uranium, iron are also available in abundance. There are also claims that there are many of Earth’s rarest metals on the Moon that will power the next generation of electronics. Not only this, a significant amount of non-radioactive helium gas is also available on the Moon.
Concerns of other countries about this ‘yatra’
Malcolm Davies, a former Australian Defense Department official who now researches space policy at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra, said: “Our concern in the West is more about the rules of access to resources, in particular. Who determines. The biggest risk, he said, is that you have two opposite sets of rules. It also said there could be a Chinese company on the Moon in the 2030s claiming territory with a resource on it.
How will the mining of minerals happen there?
Many experts agree that the superpowers plan to establish settlements on the moon. In view of this, China has started its moon exploration program working on a long-term plan. Its effort is to make a permanent base on the Moon by the year 2036. China wants to use the moon’s titanium, uranium, iron and water to make rockets. This rocket manufacturing facility in space is vital to its plan to conduct long-range excavation in space by the year 2050.
Seeing these preparations of China, US President Donald Trump had said that he wants America to start digging work on the moon as soon as possible. He had signed an order in which it was said that America has the right to find and use the resources available in space. Not only this, it was also said that there is no need to take permission of any international agreement to do this.
For the time being, it is certain that China is ahead of other countries of the world in the experiments related to the moon. Because in this century, China successfully landed its rover, made long-term ground observations and has also brought samples from the Moon. Apart from this, two rovers of China are still on the moon. On the other hand, NASA is active on its mission. Now it has to be seen who will make their presence felt on the minerals present on the moon.