Celestial ambitions. New space race between China and America breaks the cold war mold

On January 3rd 2019, China’s lunar probe Chang’e 4 has become the first to land on the far side of the Moon. Only a few months later, the US President Donald Trump announced the ambitious goal to send American astronauts back to the lunar surface by 2024. Following this decision, many commentators made reckless speculations about a possible new Space Race between China and the US. However, it is important to note that we are not in the 20th century competition between two Cold War rivals. This essay attempts to show why the Space Race model is no longer enough to understand the current American and Chinese space policies.