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We’re going back to the Moon, and this time we’re staying. That was roughly the message from NASA when, in March, it shared its plans to build a Moon base via a series of events and documents intriguingly titled “Ignition”. Meanwhile, Lunar Gateway – the proposed permanent space station orbiting the Moon, intended to support future missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond – has been put on hold. NASA is focusing its attention on other things now, possibly due to the pressure coming from another nation: “We find ourselves with a real geopolitical rival, challenging American leadership in the high ground of space,” said NASA administrator Jared Isaacman earlier this year. If we put aside the worrying perception of space as the ultimate “high ground” for a moment, the message is clear. The US doesn’t want China running around on the Moon and having it all to itself. So, the race to put boots on the lunar surface – boots that might one day be dusted with regolith and stored by the airlock of a little lunar ranch in the shadow of a crater – is on. When will it all happen? Well, NASA is targeting a human landing in 2028, and a habitat – one that astronauts can spend the night in, if not stay permanently – could be ready by2032. China, on the other hand, is proposing to have its taikonauts arrive on the Moon in 2030 and has set 2035 as a deadline for some kind of semi-permanent structure there. So, in what feels like the blink of an eye, the idea of a Moon base has come to life. It’s gone from being a leap of imagination that lived exclusively on the pages of science-fiction novels to becoming the actual, next giant leap for humanity. Discover how these lunar outposts will take shape – and why China and the US are racing to establish them – in this issue.

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