At the end of March a top Chinese space official called for the country to speed up its plans to develop lunar infrastructure. This public announcement speaks to China’s interest in being on the leading edge of expanding the Earth-moon system.

This places China along side the United States, EU, and Japan – all countries that have proposed plans for Earth-moon space infrastructure and hope to lead the ensuing industrial market.

For the racing countries, establishing this infrastructure symbolizes national strength (impaction national economies), but it also gives a leading edge to space faring nations’ plans for exploration, science, and potentially competition over the moon’s rich material resources and unique environmental resources.

From a cybersecurity standpoint, the above speaks to potential state motivations for forming attack vectors to critical lunar infrastructure that might include critical systems such as communications, life support, etc.

Original Link: https://spacenews.com/space-official-calls-for-china-to-seize-crucial-opportunity-to-establish-lunar-infrastructure/