During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing this week, experts warned that the United States is at risk of China beating it to the Moon as NASA's Artemis program continues to lag behind.

Earlier this month, China's lunar exploration program tested its "Lanyue" lunar lander at a facility outside of Beijing, declaring that it's hoping to land the first Chinese astronauts on the Moon before the end of the decade. That's well within the margin of error of NASA's first crewed landing attempt, Artemis 3, which is currently scheduled for no earlier than mid-2027.

China has also carried out a pad-abort test for its next-gen astronaut capsule and a static fire of its Long March 10 Moon rocket.

During this week's hearing, lawmakers emphasized the importance of the US staying competitive in the spa

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