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The tortoise and the hare: will China beat the US in the race back to the moon?

Nasa has reinvigorated its crewed space programme, which is called Artemis after the Greek goddess of the moon who is the twin sister of Apollo. That culminated this month in [the first crewed mission

Nasa selects Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin for first of three uncrewed lunar missions

lunar missions this year to kickstart construction of a [$20bn moon base](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/mar/24/nasa-moon-base-cancelling-artemis), and said it had chosen Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s [Blue Origin](https://www.theguardian.com/science/blue-origin), ahead of Elon Musk

China launches Shenzhou 23 spacecraft with 1 of 3 astronauts set for yearlong stay

2026. **Ng Han Guan/AP** Ng Han Guan/AP JIUQUAN, China — China launched the Shenzhou 23 spacecraft Sunday night with three astronauts heading to its space station, including one set to stay in space for a year

SpaceX launches its biggest, most beefed-up Starship yet on a test flight

2026. **Eric Gay/AP** Eric Gay/AP SpaceX was hoping to avoid the fireworks it experienced during back-to-back launches last year when midair explosions rained wreckage down on the Atlantic. Earlier flights also ended

Watch: Moment gunman tackled by school principal in Oklahoma

2026.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/c463/live/31af4090-35f3-11f1-8606-05fe34b06e1b.jpg.webp) ## 'It's a special thing to be on Planet Earth': Artemis crew welcomed home in Houston The four astronauts flew around the Moon in a nine-day voyage that took them