It's the new space race

China & India join US and Russia in bid to reach moon

- SEAN MURPHY

A SPACE race involving the world’s historical superpowers America and Russia with modern giants China and India is rocketing towards the moon. 

All four nations are rapidly progressing programmes to land on the lunar surface in a contest that has not been witnessed since the Cold War of 50 years ago.

Back in the 1960s, it was the Americans and Russians who battled it out to lead the space race – but now India, China, and others like Canada, France, Japan, Israel, Rwanda, South Korea, Suadi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria have all explored moon landing moves.

Russia yesterday launched its first moon-landing craft in 47 years as part of its bid to be the first country on the moon’s south pole.

Scientists believe the region is covered in pockets of ice – which could be valuable for life and future space travel.

The water that exists in the form of ice and other precious resources like metals and even oxygen is the basis of the 21st Century space race.

America and China are also targeting the lunar south pole.

Russia’s lunar mission, which is its first since 1976, is the latest – but lags behind India, according to some analysts.

The giant subcontinent, whose population of 1.4billion people is the largest on the planet, launched its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander last month.