abstract
- The Chinese Lunar program has made notable progress due to recent achievements in space exploration. Those advances include the construction of a space station and the realization of several spacewalks. Also, the Chinese space program landed the Chang¿e 6 probe on the far side of the Moon, the first time in history that a state has met this challenge. Although these successes are often interpreted as a new space race with the United States, this paper proposes that one of the most critical reasons behind the Chinese lunar program is the search for political legitimacy by the Communist Party, whose mandate includes enhancing the greatness of Chinese civilization. These motivations are more than the logic of external pressures to obtain international supremacy in space technologies. From this perspective, the Chinese lunar program is not only the continuation of the aspirations of Chinese leaders for the greatness of China. Still, it plays a pivotal role in the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, a key concept in the present generation of Chinese leaders. © 2025 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.