PETER NAVARRO: Trump's Artemis vision is now flying — and China is paying attention

Now that Artemis II has completed its lunar flyby and returned to Earth, Artemis is nary longer a conception oregon a promise. It is simply a moving American deep-space architecture.

In a azygous mission, the Artemis II unit executed manual piloting and proximity operations, portion the Orion spacecraft operated astatine lunar region and proved the life-support, propulsion, power, thermal, navigation, and reentry systems that generated the operational information NASA says volition signifier the missions that follow.

As we observe this achievement, it is worthy remembering however this ngo began — and wherefore it matters.

Early successful his archetypal term, Donald Trump saw what nary president since Richard Nixon had seen intelligibly enough: returning to the Moon is not immoderate relic of the past century’s glory days. It is the strategical precocious crushed of this one.

The triumph of Artemis II began connected December 11, 2017, with the signing of Space Policy Directive-1. It redirected NASA distant from 2 dormant ends.

The archetypal was the Obama-era asteroid pathway, successful which NASA planned to retrieve a boulder from a near-Earth asteroid, spot it successful lunar orbit, and nonstop astronauts determination arsenic a steppingstone to Mars. It was the benignant of fool’s errand lone Washington could emotion — expensive, convoluted, and utterly lacking the geopolitical clarity of a instrumentality to the Moon.

Artemis II proved deep-space systems work, but the existent strategical contention with China is conscionable beginning.

The 2nd was America’s agelong low-Earth-orbit holding signifier — years of utile enactment aboard the International Space Station, to beryllium sure, but nary superior strategy for pushing outward into heavy abstraction and reclaiming enactment beyond it.

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In the Trump doctrine, the Moon is not conscionable a destination. It is the adjacent large level of nationalist powerfulness — a logistics hub, a subject outpost, a proving crushed for deep-space industry, and a imaginable root of h2o crystal for drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel. It is besides wherever the technologies of in-space manufacturing, powerfulness generation, navigation, extraction, and transport volition beryllium tested and refined, and wherever subject advantage, concern capacity, technological leadership, and geopolitical power each converge.

In this representation provided by NASA, Artemis II unit members, from left, Victor Glover Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch, intermission to crook the camera astir for a selfie midway done their lunar reflection play of the Moon during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)

That is precisely wherefore Communist China is openly targeting a crewed lunar landing by 2030 and an International Lunar Research Station with Russia by 2035. This is simply a contention for position. The federation that gets determination archetypal volition signifier acold much than headlines. It volition signifier the aboriginal equilibrium of power.

The genius of Artemis is that it is not a purely governmental effort. It is simply a public-private concern designed to harness precisely what America does best: entrepreneurial innovation, private-sector speed, and allied cooperation.

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NASA provides the anchor ngo and strategical architecture. The broader plan relies connected commercialized firms and affable nations, and SpaceX and Blue Origin are cardinal to the landing architecture.

Artemis II is teaching america thing indispensable astir the quality of deep-space exploration. Human beings inactive matter.

In the archetypal abstraction race, Apollo demonstrated to the satellite that America could outbuild, outthink, and outlast its authoritarian rival. It besides accelerated cardinal technologies — microelectronics, computing, materials science, telecommunications, precision manufacturing, propulsion, and guidance systems — strengthened our defence concern base, and renewed assurance successful the nation’s capableness to physique and win.

In this 2nd contest, Artemis is teaching america thing indispensable astir the quality of deep-space exploration. Human beings inactive matter.

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NASA did not nonstop 4 passengers astir the Moon. It sent trained observers — the eyes of our lunar scientists connected Earth. During the far-side flyby, the unit photographed and described interaction craters, past lava flows, cracks and ridges, and subtle differences successful color, brightness, and texture that assistance scientists work the Moon’s geologic history.

Artemis II proved thing larger than engineering, arsenic well. It reminded the satellite that America tin inactive bash hard things successful afloat nationalist view. Fox’s ain sum gravitated to the defining images of the ngo — Earthset, the far-side blackout, and Trump’s telephone hailing the unit arsenic "modern-day pioneers."

Artemis is not conscionable exploration. It is strategical theater, confederation management, and rule-setting successful existent time. In that sense, it is Trumpian.

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The ngo besides underscored a harder truth: superior abstraction programs are built connected mastery of the unglamorous. Coverage lingered connected the blackout down the Moon. But a imperishable lunar beingness volition beryllium little connected spectacle than connected whether America tin maestro sanitation, stowage, compartment atmosphere, suit operations, radiation sheltering, exigency procedures, precise communications, reentry, and recovery.

In this representation provided by NASA, The Artemis II unit captured this presumption of an Earthset connected Monday, April 6, 2026, arsenic they flew astir the Moon. (NASA via AP)

Great powers bash not enactment connected the Moon by getting the photo. They enactment determination by making the plumbing, the procedures, and the thrust location work.

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What’s next? Bank the data, incorporated the lessons of the flight, and determination fast. Fly Artemis III successful 2027 arsenic the Earth-orbit systems trial for the commercialized landers and the caller lunar suits. Then usage Artemis IV successful 2028 to enactment Americans backmost connected the lunar surface. After that, support a existent cadence — astatine slightest 1 aboveground ngo each year, and yet faster if the architecture holds and reusable commercialized hardware matures arsenic planned.

What Washington indispensable proviso is speed, money, and resolve. Because if America treats Artemis similar conscionable different programme to beryllium managed, we whitethorn yet unrecorded to spot a reddish satellite rising. 

Peter Navarro is co-author with Greg Autry of "Red Moon Rising."

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