A guide to China’s drive to become the world’s leading space power
In little more than two decades China has gone from its first astronaut to running its own space station, Tiangong, and returning the first-ever samples from the far side of the Moon with the Chang’e-6 mission in 2024. Beijing aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030, and a wave of private rocket companies is racing to master reusable launchers.
For Washington, China’s progress has turned space into a new front in a strategic rivalry that spans satellites, missiles and the race back to the lunar surface. This guide collects China Factor’s coverage of that contest.
In this guide
1 The race to the Moon
China’s robotic Chang’e missions have notched a string of firsts, and its crewed lunar program is running on a timeline that rivals NASA’s Artemis plans.
- China is launching a Moon mission to find water ice. It’s unlike anything NASA has done
- Debt debris, the ‘Muskonomy’ and the Moon race
- Will the next human on the moon speak Mandarin?
- China’s space odyssey and the dark side of the Moon
- New ‘Moon Race’ is not just about the US and China
- China’s Chang’e-5 moon probe touches back down on earth
- One small step for China in its quest to land astronauts on the moon
2 Rockets and the commercial launch boom
Private Chinese launch companies are chasing SpaceX with reusable rockets, while the state program keeps pushing heavier launchers into service.
- LandSpace recovers Zhuque-3 booster, then loses it to post-landing fire
- Dream Chaser spearheads the next generation in space
- China gets a rocket as Cold War erupts in space
- Defection of Chinese rocket scientist rocks Beijing
- China’s space station rocket hurtles ‘out of control’
3 Space as a strategic battleground
Satellites, hypersonic weapons and space-based surveillance have made orbit a military domain, with the US and China each accusing the other of seeking dominance.
- Why winning the space race will protect Taiwan
- Will China leave the United States lost in space
- Cold War 2.0 sinks into the abyss and soars into space
- Lost in space as China and Russia target US firms
- Satellite Wars and the battle to dominate space
- China, the US and that 21st century space race
- China-US space race hurtles into the outer limits
- Blast off in the China-US hypersonic space race
- How the United States was mugged in space by China
4 Myth, science fiction and the space story
Beijing wraps its space program in ancient legend and popular science fiction to sell it at home and abroad.
More guides
This guide is updated as China Factor publishes new coverage. Last revision: November 2026.