Mission control says Odysseus lunar lander is on the moon

The CEO of the company attempting to land a spacecraft on the moon Thursday said a little competition with China is not a bad thing.

More than five decades ago, the Apollo program was created because of the space race with the Soviet Union. Today, the United States is aiming to go back to the moon with a robotic explorer — and stay there. The US is aiming to land the Odysseus spacecraft near the moon’s South Pole — an area where both the US and China want to develop a moon base.

Intuitive Machines CEO Stephen Altemus told CNN on Thursday that this new kind of space race is what is going to spur progress.

“There’s so much more to do on the moon — and learn on the moon — about living and working in space. If it takes geopolitical tensions to drive that to fruition, you know, that’s OK,” Altemus said.

“To be a company like Intuitive Machines in the forefront of landing on the moon and think of our competitor is China? That’s crazy,” he added.

In the last decade, China has sent three vehicles to the surface of the moon. The United States has not landed a robotic rover on the moon in more than 50 years.