China Gunning For Lunar Space Race Victory; European Space Agency To Drill Moon

China's Chang’e-4 mission speaks of the country's lunar ambitions as the European Space Agency (ESA) plans to drill the Moon. Recently, China’s Chang’e-4 successfully made the first landing on the Moon's far side, 50 years following the Apollo 11 exploration. Now it appears Europe doesn't want to fall far behind.

China's Lunar Bid

The recent mission shows a glimpse of China's ambition to be one of the major explorers of the Moon's surface. Reports claimed that because of China's exploration, investigating the Moon has become exciting once more. The mission brought up some new and first close-up images of the Moon's far side.

China remains mum on the amount of investment the country put in on the lunar exploration. But it’s important to note that the mission also aims to build a base and space station on the lunar surface. Eventually, China also plans to probe Mars by 2020 and hopefully another mission could head to Jupiter by 2029.

China isn’t the only one with big lunar plans. There has been renewed interest in the Moon from other countries like Russia, Japan, India and the United States.

“There is a long-term motivation which is about sustained human presence in space,” James Carpenter, a project scientist on the European Space Agency’s lunar exploration team said.

Europe's Moon Ambitions

The European Space Agency wants to start mining the Moon's surface by 2025. According to sources, the ESA has already signed a contract with rocket maker ArianeGroup for 12 months. The project will consist of studies and preparations for the mission, which seeks to extract Moon rocks and regolith.

“The use of space resources could be a key to sustainable lunar exploration and this study is part of ESA's comprehensive plan to make Europe a partner in global exploration in the next decade — a plan we will put to our Ministers for decision later this year at the Space19+ Conference," Dr. David Parker, director of human and robotic exploration at ESA, said.