NASA successfully launched its Space Launch System rocket with the Orion capsule carrying four astronauts on the Artemis II lunar mission on April 1. The mission aims to fly the capsule around the moon and back over 10 days.

The United States, Russia and China are increasing competition over control of Earth's orbits and planning a variety of space missions over the next decade to the lunar surface, with all three discussing potential lunar bases that would effectively carve out parts of the moon for scientific, research and space exploration purposes. The United States remains the premier space superpower, followed by Russia, but China has increasingly emerged as a top-tier space power and will likely supplant Russia over the next decade, as Russia continues to fall behind due to limited investment in the space sector and reliance on increasingly dated Soviet-era space technology.