NASA chief fears China's growing military space capabilities

Bill Nelson warned this Wednesday, April 17, about China's “advancement” in terms of space capabilities. He again urged the Americans to go to the moon before the Chinese.

China continues to increase its capabilities in space and is hiding a military space program under the guise of a civilian program, the head of NASA alleged on Wednesday, April 17.

“China has made tremendous progress, especially in the last 10 years, but it's been very secretive,” Bill Nelson told the House Appropriations Committee in Washington.

“We believe that a lot of what they call a civilian space program is actually a military program,” he said.

Anxiety about getting to the moon

“I want China, the Chinese space program, to understand that civil space is for peaceful use, but we haven't seen China demonstrate that,” he said.

According to him, the US is now engaged in a “race” with Beijing.

He insisted that the US succeed in landing on the moon before the Chinese. He said he was “concerned” that China would “get there first and suddenly it's our territory”.

The US plans to land astronauts in 2026 with their Artemis 3 mission.

Bill Nelson is asked by US elected officials during the annual budget request for the US space agency.

Asked one of them about the possibility of China losing America's leadership in space, he assured that this should not happen. This.” And added: “I don't think we should really let our guard down.”