Why is the Moon becoming so coveted again in 2026?

Small craters dot a surface covered in gray dust, dimly lit under a black sky. A spacecraft overlooks this setting tinged with strangeness. We are almost speechless, as if suspended in a dizzying silence, but our eyes are not deceived: we are indeed on the Moon. Or rather on a replica of its floor, called “Luna” and installed in a 1,000 m² hangar at the European Astronaut Center in Cologne, Germany.

Since autumn 2024, specialized companies have been testing their space exploration vehicles there. Astronauts from the European Space Agency (ESA) will soon train there for future missions. “In the hangar, they will be connected to a system of ropes which will constrain their movements to feel lunar gravity,” explains Andrea Casini, manager of the Luna project.

On our satellite where gravity is six times weaker than on Earth, movements slow down, similar to “long, lazy strides”, in the words of Buzz Aldrin, American astronaut and member of the Apollo 11 mission.

On July 21, 1969, it was his traveling companion Neil Armstrong who became the first man to walk on the Moon. A feat that shook the history of humanity, the archive images of which we still religiously contemplate.

Fifty-seven years later, space agencies are once again aiming for the Moon. This time, they will not just plant a flag there, but will seek to settle there permanently to unravel other mysteries of space. This year, the American agency NASA will continue the Artemis program, launched in 2022 with the sending of a rocket into lunar orbit (Artemis I).

This name pays homage to the previous missions of Apollo, Greek god and brother of Artemis. Encouraged by the Trump administration, the United States feels itself growing wings, like the mythological character of Icarus who flew near the Sun. The Artemis II mission in spring 2026 will be a flyby of the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft. Then Artemis III, scheduled for 2028, should see a crew land to achieve the crazy goal of a lunar base by 2030.

India, Japan, Europe

Humanity will therefore set out once again to conquer the star which lights our nights and creates our tides. But why now? “The American government made a political decision in 2018,” explains Xavier Pasco, specialist in American space policy. It was time to give NASA a prestigious challenge again to display the country’s space power. »

Especially since the United States no longer has much of a lead over the rest of the world. Ambitious, China placed a first device on the far side of our satellite in 2019 and hopes to send a crew there in 2030. The two superpowers, already engaged in a global economic and strategic confrontation, perceive space as a new battlefield.

The context of this race for space conquest nevertheless differs from that of 1969, the era of the Cold War between the United States and the USSR. But if the intensity of the antagonism is less, the goal is the same.

Other States intend to get the Moon in their turn. India and Japan have already succeeded in landing machines on the moon and are collaborating to one day exploit the earth’s resources. In a world where the defense and space industries are linked, war power requires space conquest. The great powers are now putting military satellites and electronic weapons into orbit. Unthinkable for them not to try to reach the Moon if the race is on.

The European Space Agency hopes to send some of its astronauts on future NASA missions. With the collaboration of 23 countries, it provides assistance to the Americans with the Argonaut lunar lander, which will supply manned missions. In exchange, a German then a Frenchman should be part of the next crews. The name of Thomas Pesquet is already on everyone’s lips.

Lunar Village

If chosen, this very experienced astronaut will face harsh conditions. On the ESA replica, Moon dust – regolith – clings to gloves and soles. Here, it is harmless but on site, its grains risk infiltrating everywhere, in the infrastructures as well as in the suits and damaging the lungs of the astronauts. Some companies are therefore developing technologies to protect against this dust.

Other inventions should make it possible to probe craters because our satellite is studded with them, after having been bombarded by meteorites. In the Luna project hangar, we can see one of these craters. How deep is it? It’s difficult to get an idea of ​​it with the naked eye as it is so dark, inky black. The Moon has no atmosphere and does not offer the palette of terrestrial shadows.

The craters of the two poles, still little explored, contain treasures. According to data collected by scientists, they contain large quantities of ice, formed over several billion years in a region where temperatures reach -200 degrees. “If astronauts manage to extract the ice and transform it into water, it could provide them with something to drink and oxygen to breathe,” enthuses astrophysicist Sébastien Carassou. Scientists could then reside on the Moon on missions lasting six months to a year. » Blue gold could also make it possible to create hydrogen by electrolysis to supply rockets with fuel.

The Moon would then constitute an advanced base so that we could better explore the solar system and one day go to Mars (read box at end of article). And to design a lunar village, engineers demonstrate crazy creativity. Above Luna’s training ground are displayed cooking utensils made from a substitute for lunar dust. Explorers could go further and make buildings using regolith and three-dimensional printers.

Jeff Bezos vs. Elon Musk

Since the 2000s, a constellation of start-ups has promised this kind of feat to space agencies. After the Apollo program, NASA changed strategy and preferred to allocate more public funds to the private sector. It no longer owns the vessels but subcontracts its transport services. SpaceX, the company of powerful businessman Elon Musk, must provide a 120 m rocket to land the crew of Artemis III.

But NASA, frightened by the delays taken by SpaceX and the speed of China, reopened the competition in October 2025. The company Blue Origin, led by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, could therefore steal the show from SpaceX.

Others hope to dig into the lunar soil to exploit its resources. Even if we do not know the quantities, our satellite contains iron, magnesium and, above all, helium-3 (read box at end of article). This gas is coveted because it is very rare on Earth and constitutes an excellent fuel for nuclear fusion.

But it is still premature to consider mining on the Moon and transporting the gas to Earth at a reasonable cost. “The space economy is largely based on promises,” warns Paul Wohrer, specialist in space geopolitics. Start-ups are the dream of investors to obtain funds but the projects can fall through. Humanity has developed myths around the Moon and some hope to find gold there. The astronauts themselves are not indifferent to these promises. »

The voracious appetite of states and private companies for lunar resources is worrying. The worst science fiction scenarios would arise if humanity competed for existing water, the volume of which we do not yet know. Some scientists estimate that the trapped ice represents tens of billions of tons of water. Others are much more reserved.

“If the Moon turns out to represent an economic and strategic interest, certain States will appropriate territories and the Earth will experience a new Cold War,” estimates geologist Matthew Genge, academic at Imperial College London. Since takeoff from the Moon requires less fuel than from Earth, our satellite could serve as a gas station for mining asteroids rich in nickel. Let’s not forget that this mineral exists in limited quantities on our planet. »

Colonize other worlds

In addition to the mercantile attraction, men cherish the dream of conquering a distant and almost unexplored land, as the adventurers Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus did over the centuries. As Earth experiences climate change, humanity would achieve the ultimate feat by colonizing other worlds. His destiny would then know no end.

Followers of transhumanism, billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos believe that humans can surpass their limits thanks to technology, and are designing grandiose plans in space. NASA feeds these fantasies by allocating funds to them. But the American state could also appropriate strategic lunar areas.

In 1967, the United Nations agreed on a treaty which gave freedom of access to space, without allowing possession of it. But by signing the Space Act in 2015, the American administration changed the rules of the game. “It is written that any State can carry out ‘activities with due regard to the interests of all other States,'” recalls Michelle Hanlon, American lawyer specializing in space law. Problem: no court has determined the meaning of this formula!

The UN is therefore considering establishing new legal rules for the Moon, like those that have protected Antarctica since 1959. States could share territories in order to avoid conflict. The stakes are high because while some dream of owning the Moon, others have no desire to see its face change. Humanity has contemplated and sacred this star for millennia. How can we maintain the mystique of this divine friend if it becomes one more territory to conquer?