by Janet Mayes

There is much fanfare surrounding the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Artemis III project, which boasts that it will land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon within the next two years. The mission depends on the success of centibillionaire Elon Musk’s super rocket, the SpaceX Starship, designed to ferry astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon’s surface.

In 2021, SpaceX won a $2.89 billion contract with NASA to develop the super rocket. So far its performance has been lacking. In 2023, the rocket’s unsuccessful explosive launch spewed brown grime and dust onto populated areas in Texas’s Boca Chica area,¹ which Musk calls “a wasteland.” The blasts are destroying the fragile surrounding ecostructure, replete with endangered species.² In March of 2025, their super rocket again exploded, spewing debris on The Bahamas³ and temporarily grounding flights at Florida airports.⁴ 

Several months later, Starship finally achieved a “largely successful” test flight. But Artemis III is still behind schedule, now expected to launch no earlier than 2028. The China National Space Administration, meanwhile, has already successfully tested a lunar lander.⁵

A Global Clean Energy Solution or a Multibillion-Dollar Market?

What is this really all about? The United States is hellbent on building mining stations on the moon before China does because of another kind of dust: moondust, replete with helium-3, touted to be the fuel for an emerging technology that will provide clean, abundant energy.

In 2021, Beijing’s Research Institute of Uranium Geology announced that China’s lunar Chang’e 5 mission had identified this precious mineral on the moon. Helium-3 fusion technology promises to produce clean energy: nuclear energy without radioactive waste. Fossil fuels and even current nuclear power plant technology would become obsolete.

Three space missions bringing back the helium-rich moondust would provide the entire planet with energy for a year.⁶ One cargo bay load (about 25 tons) on a space shuttle would power the entire U.S. for a year, representing a value of about $3 billion per ton.

“The country that controls the source of energy that keeps technological civilization running will control the Earth,” said an article in The Hill in 2022, elaborating that “[t]he moon could become the Persian Gulf of the mid- to late-21st century. Clean and abundant fusion energy would change the world in ways that can barely be evaluated.” China, along with Russia, plans to complete construction of a lunar base by 2035. Then it will mine the helium-3 rich crystal “Changesite-(Y),” which is contained in vast quantities on the moon’s regolith (layer of unconsolidated rocky material covering bedrock). The Hill’s analysis described the crystal mineral sample returned by the Chang’e probe as “exceedingly tiny, about one-tenth the size of a human hair. … The helium-3 that it contains has the potential to change the world.”⁷ 

Since China has accelerated plans for lunar exploration and future mining, the panicked imperialist countries, particularly the U.S., cannot sit by and just watch. They are horrified at the possibility that China could be the first country to gather the moondust that contains helium-3. If they lose this space race, imperialist governments and corporations will lose the opportunity to corner the multibillion dollar market for this potentially planet-saving technology, and sell it for a profit.

In preparation for landing people on the moon before China does, NASA has engaged several private companies to gather moondust samples which, according to SpaceNews, is “part of an effort by the agency to establish a precedent for ownership and use of space resources.” For example, in 2020, NASA hired Masten Space System to gather small lunar samples, which NASA will then own. “Today’s Lunar Regolith Purchase is small measured in dollars,” Masten tweeted, “but monumental in impact on unlocking the value of space for humanity.”⁸ After it filed for bankruptcy in 2022, it was acquired by Astrobotic Technology, which retained the Masten team contracted by NASA.⁹

In May 2025, Interlune, a startup company founded by, among others, two former executives of Jeff Bezos’s spaceship company Blue Origin, revealed that it had signed a contract with the U. S. Department of Energy to harvest three liters of helium-3 from the lunar regolith and return it to Earth.¹⁰  

The ultimate value, of course, is mammoth profits for the U.S., its imperialist allies, and its private companies if they control the mining, transporting and fusion processing of helium-3. Given the fragile condition of Western economies, it is a space race the imperialists cannot afford to lose.

A Mountain of Lies Exposed

The U.S. and its imperialist allies rationalize spending billions of taxpayers’ dollars to beat China to the moon by repeating unsubstantiated lies and the standard China-bashing. These tactics are well-documented; for example, articles by Sara Flounders (“Accomplishments belie U.S. propaganda”)¹¹ and Arjae Red (“Imperialist media can’t stop lying about mosques in China”),¹² as well as Carlos Martinez’s book The East is Still Red: Chinese Socialism in the 21st Century have all exposed similar lies.

U.S. officials and media figures often claim that China must be prevented from “ruling” the world, and frequently lie in support of this accusation. In 2022, warning of a new “space race” with China, NASA chief Bill Nelson was quoted by the Global Times as being “very concerned about” the joint Chinese-Russian lunar research base, and baselessly accused China of wanting to “occupy the moon.”¹³ The Washington Examiner, a right-wing U.S. news outlet, attacked China in 2023 with the fabricated, ominous statement: “If the West turns away from space, China, which cares little for human rights … will forge ahead. A Chinese-dominated space frontier is not a future that anyone should want.”¹⁴ 

China’s Humane Approach to Battling Climate Disaster

Actually, it is clear that a “Chinese dominant space frontier” is a future that everyone should want. If our planet is to survive the climate disaster, it is imperative that the imperialists to lose the race to the moon.

Far from seeking to profit, China’s approach to international energy production is in fact geared toward protecting the planet. As Martinez explains when discussing China’s “green energy” solution in his abundantly-researched book, Socialist China’s international humanitarian policies are aimed at saving the globe from climate catastrophe.

China is not driven by the profit motive, and will not seek world domination by harnessing helium-3 technology. As Workers World Managing Editor Deirdre Griswold wrote: “China’s economic planners have the power to make decisions that cost a lot of money, but will benefit the people—and the world—over the long run.”¹⁵

In the meantime, in addition to developing the fusion technology, China has begun the construction of a “Space Solar Power Station” (SSPS), a space-based power generation system used to collect solar energy before converting it into electricity and then into microwaves. It is expected to launch into low orbit in two years. By 2050, it is estimated that the solar plant will be able to generate more kilowatt-hours of energy in one year than are contained in all of the oil within the Earth. China’s goal is to provide free clean energy, not reap profit.¹⁶

A 21st-Century Gold Rush

In 2020, NASA, the U.S. Department of State, and the newly re-established National Space Council created the Artemis Accords. Its principles, according to the State Department, “establish a common political understanding regarding mutually beneficial practices in the exploration and use of outer space, including activities conducted in support of NASA’s Artemis program.”¹⁷ 

The document sounds benign, promising cooperation among signatory countries, all sorts of safety protocols, and preservation of lunar historic sites, such as the first Apollo landing site. However, a sleight of hand embedded in the Accord’s wording about “safety zones” actually grants control of lunar mining sites to whichever countries and corporations lay down a stake first—except for China!

Both China and Russia have criticized the concept of “safety zones” laid out in the Accords, and according to an article in the Space Policy journal, “Whilst the use of Safety Zones is ostensibly proposed for small scale In Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) activities focussed on lunar water production, messaging around the Artemis Accords has indicated that there may be an intent to use them to set precedent for longer term, larger scale commercial resource activity.”¹⁸

Not surprisingly, 24 of the 50 signatories to the Accords are members of NATO, and the others fall within the economic and strategic influence of the U.S., such as Israel and Japan. The U.S. Congress in fact voted against inviting China to sign, being against cooperating with their chief competitor.

Bezos versus Musk

Centibillionaire Jeff Bezos, founder and current executive chairman of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, did not win the contract for his spaceship company, Blue Origin, to ferry astronauts to the moon. But he has not been deterred from profitable lunar ventures. He is developing “Blue Alchemist” technology, a process that would produce solar cells and transmission wire using simulated moon regolith. Blue Origin claims that the resulting solar cells could operate for over a decade in the moon’s “harsh” environment.¹⁹ 

Bezos and Elon Musk are also rivals in their long-term goals to send their rocket ships to Mars. In early 2023, Bezos’ untested rocket ship New Glenn landed a launch contract with NASA for the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) mission to study Mars’ magnetosphere.²⁰ The moon will become the launching pad for these ventures.

Musk, the notorious owner of Tesla and X, and briefly President Trump’s closest advisor, infamously advocates detonating atomic bombs over Mars’ polar regions to make it more livable!²¹ His SpaceX super rocket was originally designed for colonization of Mars, where, he envisions, a self-sustaining colony could escape the possible demise of humanity on Earth. 

It is possible that Trump’s decision to deeply cut Artemis funding from NASA’s budget as part of his “One Big Beautiful Bill” was influenced by Musk’s focus on Mars. But even the Republican-dominated U.S. Congress could not fall into line with Trump on this issue. While not explicitly stating that they were afraid to lose future control of the hugely profitable helium-3 mining, they succeeded in restoring some of the funding for Artemis. The NASA funding amendment to the Bill was written by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. According to Cruz’s Senate committee, the amendment “dedicates almost $10 billion to win the new space race with China and ensure America dominates space. Makes targeted, critical investments in Mars-forward technology, Artemis missions and Moon to Mars program, and the International Space Station.”²²

Panic ensued after the passage of the Bill. In an opinion piece published by Scientific American, Matthew Beddingfield writes: “This conflict and dizzying back and forth regarding America’s moonshot project suggests a question: Are we committed to Artemis and the broader goal of understanding space? Or to put it another way: Do we want to win this new race to the moon? The current administration owes us an answer.”²³

U.S. Space Force: Ready and Able

While corporations scheme to gain riches, the Pentagon’s militarization of space is intensifying to protect capitalist interests and uphold U.S. domination, as discussed in the Workers World article “Astronomical imperialism!” in 2019.²⁴ That year, the U.S. Department of Defense established a sixth branch of the military, the U.S. Space Force.

The establishment of the Space Force sent a clear warning to Russia, China, Iran and any other countries that the U.S. views as global competitors, informing them that the imperialist U.S. is staking its claim to supremacy over space technology—and over outer space itself!

Billions of taxpayers’ dollars, sorely needed for the health and welfare of human beings worldwide, are funneled into these corporate or militarized space programs instead. As usual, as exciting and as visionary the exploration of space appears to be, capitalists manipulate scientific curiosity and discovery into profit-making ventures.

¹Livia Albeck-Ripka, “SpaceX’s Starship Kicked Up a Dust Cloud, Leaving Texans With a Mess,” The New York Times, April 21, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/us/spacex-rocket-dust-texas.html.

²Eric Roesch, “SpaceX’s Texas Rocket Is Going To Cause A Lot More Damage Than Anyone Thinks,” ESG Hound, April 16, 2023, https://blog.esghound.com/p/spacexs-texas-rocket-is-going-to.

³The Bahamas, “Statement from the Government of The Bahamas on Space X Starship Operations,” Bahamas.com, March 7, 2025, https://www.bahamas.com/pressroom/statement-from-the-government-of-the-bahamas-on-space-x-starship-operations.

⁴Mauricio Maldonado, “SpaceX Debris Grounds Flights at South Florida Airports,” CBS News, March 6, 2025, https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/spacex-debris-grounds-flights-at-south-florida-airports/.

⁵Kenneth Chang, “SpaceX’s Giant Mars Rocket Completes Nearly Flawless Test Flight,” The New York Times, August 26, 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/science/spacex-starship-test-launch.html.

⁶Jia Hepeng, “He Asked for the Moon-and Got It,” China Daily, July 26, 2006, https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2006-07/26/content_649325.htm.

⁷Mark R. Whittington, “China Has Returned Helium-3 from the Moon, Opening Door to Future Technology,” The Hill, September 18, 2022, https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3647216-china-has-returned-helium-3-from-the-moon-opening-door-to-future-technology/.

⁸Jeff Foust, “NASA Selects Four Companies for Lunar Sample Purchases,” SpaceNews (Washington), December 3, 2020, https://spacenews.com/nasa-selects-four-companies-for-lunar-sample-purchases/.

⁹Brianna Wessling, “Astrobotic Acquires Masten Space Systems for $4.5M,” The Robot Report, September 13, 2022, https://www.therobotreport.com/astrobotic-acquires-masten-space-systems-for-4-5m/.

¹⁰Emma Gatti, “Lunar Helium-3: Separating Market from Marketing,” SpaceNews, June 4, 2025, https://spacenews.com/lunar-helium-3-separating-market-from-marketing/.

¹¹Sara Flounders, “Accomplishments Belie U.S. Propaganda,” Workers World, June 9, 2023, https://www.workers.org/2023/06/71505/.

¹²Arjae Red, “Imperialist Media Can’t Stop Lying about Mosques in China,” Workers World, June 22, 2023, https://www.workers.org/2023/06/71812/.

¹³Fan Anqi and Zhang Changyue, “NASA Chief Urged to Drop Cold War Mentality after His Lashing out at China’s Space Progress,” Global Times, July 3, 2022, https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202207/1269666.shtml.

¹⁴Mark Whittington, “A Smear of Christianity, Capitalism, and the Colonization of Space,” The Washington Examiner, April 12, 2023, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/2762067/a-smear-of-christianity-capitalism-and-the-colonization-of-space/.

¹⁵Deirdre Griswold, “China Takes Another Big Step Away from CO2,” Workers World, January 24, 2017, workers.org/2017/01/29359/.

¹⁶Hagler, “Socialism Leads Humanity out of Artificial Scarcity,” Workers World, February 28, 2025, https://www.workers.org/2025/02/84155/.

¹⁷US Department of State, “Artemis Accords,” U.S., Department of State, n.d., accessed August 30, 2025, https://www.state.gov/bureau-of-oceans-and-international-environmental-and-scientific-affairs/artemis-accords.

¹⁸Ben McKeown et al., “Artemis Accords: Are Safety Zones Practical for Long Term Commercial Lunar Resource Utilisation?,” Space Policy 62 (November 2022): 101504, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spacepol.2022.101504.

¹⁹Jon Fingas, “Blue Origin Made Solar Cells by Smelting Simulated Moon Dust,” Engadget, February 13, 2023, https://www.engadget.com/blue-origina-solar-cells-moon-soil-173908801.html.

²⁰Claire A. O’Shea, “NASA Selects Blue Origin to Launch Mars’ Magnetosphere Study Mission,” National Aeronautics and Space Administration, February 9, 2023, https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-selects-blue-origin-to-launch-mars-magnetosphere-study-mission/.

²¹Mike Wall, “Elon Musk Floats ‘Nuke Mars’ Idea Again (He Has T-Shirts),” Space, August 17, 2019, https://www.space.com/elon-musk-nuke-mars-terraforming.html.

²²Bud McLaughlin, “U.S. Senate ‘Directive’ Would Revive Artemis IV & V, Protect Huntsville’s NASA Jobs and Ensure American Dominance in Space,” Yellowhammer News, June 9, 2025, https://yellowhammernews.com/u-s-senate-directive-would-revive-artemis-iv-v-protect-huntsvilles-nasa-jobs-and-ensure-american-dominance-in-space/.

²³Matthew Beddingfield, “Strong Support for NASA and Project Artemis Will Advance the U.S.,” Scientific American, August 2, 2025, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strong-support-for-nasa-and-project-

²⁴Janet Mayes, “Astronomical Imperialism!,” Workers World, October 1, 2019, workers.org/2019/10/43849.

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Janet Mayes is an amateur astronomer and the author of Beyond the Horse’s Eye, a Fantasy Out of Time, a science fiction novel about U.S. hegemony in space, under the pen name Janet Rose. A review can be found at tinyurl.com/y6fzefun. She is also the web manager for the International Action Center website.