--- title: "Head of NASA Says China Is Hiding Military Experiments in Space" description: "NASA's administrator is once again making outrageous claims about China's space capabilities, fueling the rivalry between the two." date: "2024-04-20" modified: "2024-04-20" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-china-military-space-experiments" categories: - "Military" - "NASA" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "china" - "moon" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # Head of NASA Says China Is Hiding Military Experiments in Space ![NASA's administrator is once again making outrageous claims about China's space capabilities, fueling the rivalry between the two.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Full Nelson NASA's administrator is once again making outrageous claims about China's space capabilities — and in the process, fueling the off-world rivalry between the two. "We believe that a lot of \[China's\] so-called civilian space program is a military program," Administrator Bill Nelson said during remarks on Capitol Hill this week, [per *The Guardian*](). "And I think, in effect, we are in a race." The comments, as the website notes, came during a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee — which means that Nelson was making them while asking for money for NASA, which has requested a whopping $25.384 billion for its [2025 funding](). "China has made extraordinary strides, especially in the last 10 years," Nelson continued, "but they are very, very secretive." ## Big Talk It's unclear from the reporting about the administrator's comments what evidence his claims are riding on. This is not, as we mentioned, the first time Nelson has made such bold accusations about our sometimes-ally. Sworn in in May 2021, Nelson has for much of his tenure warned that China could usurp America's space advantage at any moment — and has used similarly bold claims to demonstrate that point. Just a year into the job — and during another House Appropriations Committee hearing — the administrator straight-up [accused China of stealing]() American spacecraft designs. "Yeah, they're pretty good at stealing," Nelson told the subcommittee in May 2022, "and I think that's incumbent upon us to take cybersecurity very, very seriously." Just a few months later, he claimed in an interview with a [random German newspaper]() that China wants to "steal" the Moon as well, which [prompted a response]() from the rival nation. "The US side has constantly constructed a smear campaign against China's normal and reasonable outer space endeavors," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in a [press statement](), "and China firmly opposes such irresponsible remarks." ## Moon Money While there certainly is no love lost between Nelson and his [Chinese counterparts](), the incendiary discourse between these space race rivals generally seems to originate on the American side. Last fall, Nelson again claimed that China plans to [hoard lunar resources for itself](), which would go against the United Nations' binding [space treaty of 1967]() — and in his more recent remarks, he reiterated those remarks while begging for more money. "The latest date they've said they're going to land \[on the Moon\] is 2030, but that keeps moving up," Nelson told Congress, per [transcription from *Sky News*](). "It is incumbent on us to get there first and to utilize our research efforts for peaceful purposes." At this point, the lengthy list of receipts of this sort of recurrent rhetoric coming from the top of NASA does make one wonder: is China on the offensive, or is America? **More on NASA:** [*NASA Admits Space Station Junk Crashed Through Man's Roof*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()