Intensifying its battle against China, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has reportedly begun barring Chinese nationals with valid US visas from working on NASA space programs.
“NASA has taken internal action pertaining to Chinese nationals, including restricting physical and cybersecurity access to our facilities, materials, and network to ensure the security of our work,” NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens told AFP Wednesday.
Bloomberg reported earlier that NASA typically has restrictions on employing Chinese nationals, but Chinese citizens with valid visas were previously allowed to work as contractors or students contributing to research, although not as staff.
But, on September 5, several individuals told the media outlet they were suddenly locked out of IT systems and barred from in-person meetings.
Why does NASA not want Chinese nationals
The US and China are already competing in the race for the Moon. The rivals plan to send crewed missions to the moon in the next five years.
NASA is currently looking forward to its Artemis II mission in early 2026. The 10-day flight will send four astronauts around the Moon and back.
The US plans to land the first astronauts near the lunar South Pole wit the Artemis III mission by September 2026. Artemis IV, the first mission to the Gateway lunar space station, remains on track for 2028.
Meanwhile, China aims to land its ‘taikonauts’ on the moon before 2030, “with the purpose of conducting scientific exploration.” On August 6 this year, the China Manned Space Agency successfully tested a high-fidelity mockup of its 26-ton “Lanyue” lunar lander.
Why race to Moon is important
Amid the race for the Moon, NASA acting administrator Sean Duffy said in a podcast that it’s important for the US to win the “race in space, race to the moon, and race to Mars.”
“I think the future is “whoever controls space controls the world,” he said.
Mike Gold, president of civil and international space at Redwire, remarked on similar lines during a Senate Commerce Committee meeting.
“The countries that get there first will write the rules of the road for what we can do on the moon,” he was quoted by Space as saying.
‘US risks losing moon to China if…’
During the meeting of the US Senate Commerce Committee, Several experts warned that the US risks losing the moon to China if NASA’s Artemis program falters.
They pointed to China’s recent progress, including a crew vehicle abort-system test in June, a Long March 10 rocket static fire in August, and a moon lander demonstration, as evidence of a systematic push toward the lunar surface.
“Unless something changes, it is highly unlikely the United States will beat China’s projected timeline,” former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was quoted by Space.com as saying in a report published on September 4, 2025.
NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy said on Wednesday (September 10), “We’re in a second space race right now…The Chinese want to get back to the Moon before us. That’s not going to happen. America has led in space in the past, and we are going to continue to lead in space in the future.”
Duffy rebuffed recent critics who suggested China would beat the US back to the moon, saying on September 5, “I’ll be damned if that is the ultimate outcome of the decade’s space race.”
US vs China in race to Mars
Notably, China is also seeking to become the first country to return a sample from the Martian surface, with a robotic mission slated to launch in 2028 and bring rocks back as soon as 2031.
Meanwhile, NASA’s Duffy said that the agency is exploring several options for its Mars mission: “We don’t want to just bring samples back from Mars. We want to send our boots to the Moon and Mars…maybe we will send an equipments to test the samples to the Mars itself…”
The Trump administration has signalled through its budget proposal that it wants to cancel a planned Mars Sample Return mission, a joint project with the European Space Agency.
It has been hinted the job could instead be accomplished by a crewed mission, although no firm details have been provided, AFP reported.
