Isaacman expects Chinese crewed mission around the moon in 2027

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman speaks at the AIAA ASCEND conference May 19. Credit: AIAA/David Becker/PWHL

WASHINGTON — The head of NASA says he expects China to perform a crewed flight around the moon in 2027, ratcheting up perceptions of a space race between China and the United States.

In a May 19 keynote at the ASCEND conference here, Jared Isaacman warned a space industry audience that the next people to fly around the moon would be Chinese.

“The next time the world tunes in to watch astronauts fly around the moon, which will likely be sometime in 2027, they will be taikonauts, and America will no longer be the exclusive power to send humans into the lunar environment,” he said.

While Isaacman has frequently discussed a race with China to be the next to land humans on the moon, this was one of the first times he predicted a 2027 Chinese crewed circumlunar mission. He repeated the comments later in the day at an industry reception.