Fly Me to the Moon: 4 Ways Artemis Builds on Apollo’s Giant Leap

The last time Americans walked on the lunar surface, the Soviet Union was the enemy and a flag plant was the finish line. Today’s competition bears little resemblance to the Cold War space race that captivated the world during the 1960s. The rival has changed, the mission has evolved, and the technology has leaped forward.

NASA’s storied 1960s-70s lunar program, Apollo, was a race to get there first. Today’s successor, Artemis, is a race to stay.

While Apollo succeeded in planting the American flag on the moon and demonstrating U.S. technological superiority over the Soviet Union, Artemis aims to establish a sustained presence on and around the moon, expand scientific research, build critical infrastructure, and lay the groundwork for future missions deeper into the solar system.

1. The rival has changed, but the race is back on.

The original moon race emerged from Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. Apollo was born out of President John F. Kennedy’s “moonshot” challenge to land an American on the moon before the end of the decade and prove that Washington could outpace Moscow technologically. As the Associated Press summarized, “The Soviets were America’s fierce rivals during Apollo, but their moon rockets kept exploding at liftoff and they eventually gave up. Now the Chinese are the competition.”

Today, Beijing is pursuing its own ambitious lunar agenda — one that increasingly mirrors NASA’s Artemis and has the United States back in a high-stakes race for the ultimate high ground. China has publicly stated its goal of landing astronauts on the moon by 2030 and is targeting the same strategically valuable destination as NASA: the lunar south pole. The region, which has never felt human footsteps, is believed to contain water-ice deposits that could support human life and fuel production. It also has significant scientific research potential. Beijing and Moscow are also pursuing plans for a joint lunar research station and lunar nuclear power systems intended to support long-term operations on the moon.

Like Apollo, this 21st century competition is about far more than exploration. It is about global leadership and shaping humanity’s future beyond Earth. It’s also about practical things like making sure that the United States remains a leader in areas like policymaking and operations in the final frontier.

2. The goal has moved from flags and footprints to bases and infrastructure.

Apollo’s objective was relatively straightforward: reach the moon before the Soviets, conduct groundbreaking scientific exploration, and return home safely. The program accomplished exactly that. Between 1969 and 1972, six successful Apollo missions landed astronauts on the lunar surface, demonstrating American scientific and technological leadership at a pivotal moment in history. Additionally, by beating the Soviets to the moon, Washington positioned itself as the leading space power and played a central role in shaping the norms, standards, and policies that governed future activities in space.

Artemis is pursuing something far more ambitious: establishing a sustained American presence on the moon and securing U.S. leadership in what could become the next great era of space competition. NASA’s plans include recurring crewed landings, permanent infrastructure, expanded research in strategically significant regions such as the lunar south pole, and technologies that could enable astronauts to live and work on the moon for extended periods.

NASA also views the Artemis program as a steppingstone to Mars. The agency has repeatedly emphasized that lessons learned from sustained lunar operations will help prepare astronauts and stress-test technologies for future deep-space missions. Establishing a permanent presence on the moon could also provide NASA with a future staging ground for missions deeper into the solar system, including Mars.

3. Apollo had contractors, Artemis has partners.

Artemis is increasingly a partnership in which NASA and commercial industry are jointly shaping America’s future beyond Earth. Previously, the Apollo program relied on a vast network of aerospace contractors that designed and built many of the spacecraft, rockets, and technologies that ultimately carried Americans to the moon. These private corporations played indispensable roles throughout the program, but NASA largely directed every aspect of development and maintained tight control over the systems being built.

Instead, Artemis reflects a different model as the relationship between the government and the private sector has shifted. NASA still sets overarching mission objectives and requirements, but it increasingly relies on commercial companies to design, develop, own, and operate many of the capabilities that will return Americans to the moon. Rather than acting solely as a government program manager, NASA has become both an architect and a customer.

SpaceX and Blue Origin are both developing Human Landing Systems for Artemis missions through Starship and Blue Moon, respectively. Meanwhile, companies including Axiom Space, Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman are contributing spacecraft, lunar landers, spacesuits, rocket components, and other mission-critical systems. Perhaps more importantly, many of these companies are building capabilities that extend beyond NASA’s immediate needs. Unlike Apollo-era contractors, today’s commercial space firms are pursuing broader commercial markets in lunar transportation, communications, infrastructure, and exploration. NASA’s investments are therefore helping support not only a moon program, but also a growing American space economy.

4. Landing was just the beginning, now comes the race to shape the final frontier.

The strategic stakes in today’s race to the moon are no less significant than they were nearly six decades ago. The nation that establishes a sustained presence on the moon will likely gain first-mover advantages in scientific discovery, technological development, resource access, and influence over the rules, standards, and norms that will govern activities in cislunar space.

As in the 1960s, America finds itself today at a critical strategic juncture. The decisions made by NASA, its commercial partners, and policymakers today could shape U.S. power and influence in space for decades to come. As space-based systems become increasingly indispensable to national security, scientific discovery, and everyday services, nations that lead in space will be better positioned to shape developments on Earth.

Emmerson Overell is a project coordinator at the Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation (CCTI) at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where she focuses on threats to U.S. national security in the Arctic, space, and cyberspace. For more analysis from Emmerson and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.