We are in competition with them, whether or not some space cadets wants to recognize or participate in it. And their foreign policy actions as well as hacking efforts show they think they are competeing with us.

There was a recent episode of space vidcast where one of the hosts said she didn’t think they are very progressed because they haven’t sent a man to the moon. Well, niether have we in a long long time. And progress in space shouldn’t be measured by arbitrary accomplishments, it should be measured by current capabilities.

Also, the path countries take in their exploration efforts are not determined by the laws of math and physics, in other words there is no one correct method or order of milestones that must be met. There isn’t a single path for development but many and value judgements of a chosen path should be based on outcomes.

It appears from the outside that China has concrete goals and objectives that support an over arching strategy. Very wise in an industry were it is far too easy to lose a decade or two through programatic failures. Instead of hiding our heads in the sand, it is time to take notice of China’s accomplishments.