Nasa chief Bill Nelson claims that the US is engaged in a competition with China to return to the moon.
In a BBC interview, Mr Nelson expressed his desire for his team to be the first to arrive.
His remarks bring back recollections of the 1960s and 1970s, when Nasa was competing with the Soviet Union in a space race. Yet, a half century on, Nasa is using private businesses to do the majority of the labor.
Mr.Nelson pointed out that it is essential for Nasa to be able to split the massive costs and benefit from the innovativeness of private enterprise.
He references Elon Musk's SpaceX, the recipient of a whopping $3bn (£2.4bn) contract to construct a lunar landing craft in 2021, and the pioneer of the most potent rocket ever constructed.
Additionally, other businesses are experiencing the advantage of the space race. In the beginning of this year, the agency concluded a $3.4bn agreement with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin - which is for the construction of a landing vehicle, but for future visits to the moon.
Two businesses are taking advantage of billions of dollars in government appropriations. This investment is partially being deployed in an attempt to compete with China, since tensions have been intensifying between the two largest economies on the planet.
In August, India became the fourth country to achieve a successful landing on the Moon and the first to arrive in the lunar south pole region.
China's space program is the one that is subject to the most scrutiny by Nasa, despite the former's achievements.
China is the sole nation to possess its very own space station, having already returned lunar samples back to the planet and having ambitions to make it to the polar areas of the moon's surface.
The thing that has Mr Nelson concerned is that, should they find water on the south pole of the moon and China gets there first, China could potentially claim the area as their own, making it off-limits to others.
Mr Nelson asserts that China's construction of artificial islands to assert their dominion over parts of the South China Sea bolsters his worry.
Nelson notes that China has declined to join the Artemis Accords, which were formulated by the U.S. as a set of codes for behaving responsibly while in space and on the Moon.
China has declared that they are dedicated to the peaceful use of space, and disregarded the US apprehension concerning its space endeavour as a "smear campaign against China's rational and ordinary space efforts."
The competition is prompting large investment from Nasa. In the period through to and including September 2021, the organization declared its expenditure was worth $71.2bn to the US economy - a boost of 10.7% compared to the year before.
Headlines may be dominated by major organizations such as SpaceX, but Nasa's budget has a wider impact on the economy.
Mr Nelson states that 25% of their expenditure is being directed to small companies.
Sinead O'Sullivan, a Nasa engineer who now works as a space economist at Harvard Business School, has expressed that available funds can be advantageous to small business development, especially when it comes to start-ups.
She notes that the government can act as an initial customer for start-up businesses, which can in turn enable them to approach private financiers and secure more funding.
Ms O'Sullivan states that, while venture capital and private equity often gets discussed, it is government that is equally if not more critical.
Businesses are increasingly relying on technology to enhance their operations. They are using various types of tech tools to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer service. These tools are helping businesses automate processes, streamline operations, and better manage data. Companies are also taking advantage of new technologies to create competitive advantages and gain a greater understanding of their customers. Technology continues to be an integral part of modern business.
The high profile of the race back to the moon has stimulated an immense surge in other space activity, which could emerge as far more lucrative.
In 1957, the USSR was the pioneer in launching a satellite into orbit, thereby initiating the space race with the United States. The European Space Agency has now estimated that more than 10,500 satellites are orbiting the Earth.
In the past 10 years, Chad Andersen, the creator of the investment firm Space Capital, believes SpaceX has been an important factor in raising the level of the industry.
He claims that the only reason for the present discourse about space as an investment area is SpaceX, since, prior to their maiden commercial mission about 10 years ago, the whole market had been essentially under the aegis of the government.
Based on analytics from BryceTech, it is estimated that approximately half of the satellites currently in orbit were launched within the last three years.
This is mainly attributed to One Web and Elon Musk's Starlink.
Mr Anderson states that the space economy is much more encompassing than simply rockets and satellite hardware - rather, it is the unseen power driving the international economy.
According to him, the ever-growing quantity of satellites in the heavens is facilitating the discovery of numerous applications for the data they emit, in domains like farming, insurance, and maritime commerce.
RocketLab, based in New Zealand, is a major contributor to the space economy.
Competing with SpaceX, this company has already carried out 40 launches for customers including Nasa and other US government organizations.
From being a dishwasher engineer to propelling rockets into space, Peter Beck, the originator of the initiative, claims that this is merely the beginning of the money-making chances that exist beyond the planet.
Launching presents an opportunity of around $10 billion, whereas creating the required infrastructure such as satellites is worth approximately $30 billion. Finally, applications can provide a benefit of over $830 billion.
He is not the only one to assert major assertions. Morgan Stanley, an American investment bank, computed that the global space industry could reach a value of more than $1tn annually by 2040.
What could be the next step for private firms involved in space exploration?
Mr Beck is wary regarding possibilities on the moon, especially in terms of mining.
Currently, it is not cost-effective to venture to the moon, harvest resources, and transport them back to Earth.
Bill Nelson of Nasa believes that medical research can be enhanced by the discoveries made on the International Space Station in 2019. In particular, he cites Merck's exploration into crystal growth, which subsequently facilitated the development of a cancer medication.
He states that fibre optics might be produced more efficiently in a zero gravity environment.
Ultimately, there will be a great deal of commercial activity taking place in close proximity to Earth.
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