There is a competition between the United States and China to return to the moon again, according to NASA Director Bill Nelson.

Nelson indicated that he wanted to make sure that “we get there first.”

These statements remind us of the era of the sixties and seventies of the last century, when NASA was in a race with the former Soviet Union. But after nearly half a century, NASA is using private companies to play a greater role in its work.

Nelson says this is essential, because it allows the agency to reduce its financial burden, and also allows it to benefit from “creativity and development in the private sector.”

Nelson refers to SpaceX, which is owned by Elon Musk and won a contract worth $3 billion with NASA in 2021, to build a spacecraft to land on the moon, and the company also built the most powerful space rocket.