Nasa chief warns moon’s south pole may become ‘another South China Sea’

Bill Nelson says Chinese astronauts could occupy the lunar region ‘like the Spratly Islands’ if US is beaten in new space race

Both countries aim to establish permanent bases at the moon’s south pole, which is expected to hold water ice

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Various countries have their sights set on the moon’s south pole: Photo: AFP

Published: 9:00am, 11 Aug 2023

Nasa administrator Bill Nelson has suggested China might occupy the moon’s south pole if its astronauts get there first, using the dispute over the Spratly Islands to back his claim of a new space race.

“You see the actions of the Chinese government on Earth. They go out and claim some international islands in the South China Sea as theirs, and build military runways on them,” he said at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Tuesday.

“Naturally, I don’t want China to get to the south pole first with humans and then say ‘this is ours, stay out’, like they’ve done with the Spratly Islands.”

Manila, with Washington’s backing, and Beijing are in an escalating war of words over the Spratlys – a large group of reefs, shoals, atolls and small islands in the South China Sea that are also claimed by Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.

According to Nelson, the US and China are in a race to see who can be first to gain access to the water ice believed to be trapped at the lunar south pole.

“We need to protect the interest of the international community … If indeed we find water in abundance that could be utilised for future crews and spacecraft, we want to make sure that that’s available to all, not just the one that’s claiming it.”