Back to the Moon: Cooperation and Conflict

After a decades-long hiatus, the Moon has re-emerged as the main target of the major space powers’ human exploration activities. Unlike the cooperative approaches that characterized human spaceflight activities in the aftermath of the cold war, upcoming lunar exploration endeavours seem to feature a more competitive approach and lean towards a progressive polarisation of the international space community around two separate and potentially conflicting blocs. Against this background, this chapter looks at the growing competition dynamics between the three leading space powers (i.e., the United States, Russia and China) when it comes to the return of human flights to the Moon. It disentangles their national stances and programmatic initiatives for getting back to the Moon, and also looks at the difficult scenarios that will emerge once the three superpowers get to the Moon. This chapter also includes an analysis of several outstanding issues, ranging from the creation of safety zones on the lunar surface and the protection of cultural sites to the use and exploitation of its resources, that will confront the actors when a more stable and long-term human presence on the Moon is achieved.