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After recent tests, China appears likely to beat the United States back to the Moon
(arstechnica.com)
this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2025
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We've known for years that China would be back on the Moon before the US. When NASA decided to go with spacex solution of sending 20 rockets to get 2-3 people up there, that's when we knew China had already won.
As opposed to Blue Origin's solution, which was to be assembled from three different spacecraft in orbit? Or the Dynetics solution, which was over its own mass budget?
It's wild that the crazy overbuilt and overcomplicated SpaceX lander is the best option.
The Blue Origin lander, which won the 2nd place consolation contract, changed to be more like Starship than their original 3-part proposal. They also rely on orbital refueling now.
I wish Dynetics could have made their mass margins work. I liked the size and shape of that lander.