Space Policy Edition: Is there really a space race between the US and China?

Is the United States really in a new space race with China? Or is that framing missing the bigger picture? In this Space Policy Edition of Planetary Radio, Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at The Planetary Society, sits down with Patrick Besha, former NASA strategic advisor on China, to explore the realities behind China's rapidly advancing space program. They discuss how China's political system shapes its long-term space strategy, why the rhetoric about a "space race" may be misleading, and how competition between the United States and China in space is likely to unfold over the coming decades. Discover more at:

You can listen to Space Policy Edition: Is there really a space race between the US and China? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Space Policy Edition: Is there really a space race between the US and China? is an episode from Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science by The Planetary Society.

This episode is 68:43 long.

This episode was published on Mar 6, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.