China's National Space Administration said Saturday (September 10) that it plans to conduct three uncrewed moon missions over the next decade as it seeks to compete with the United States in a new era of space exploration. A day earlier, the China National Space Administration announced that China had discovered a new mineral on the moon for the first time through the "Chang'e 5" mission, and named it "Chang'e Stone".

China has shown its space ambitions in recent years, conducting lunar exploration, preparing to build its own space station, and eyeing expeditions to Mars. These programs all compete directly with the United States. NASA has an expedition to Mars and plans to return astronauts to the moon in the next few years.

Bloomberg reports that both the U.S. and China are coveting lunar minerals, and space mining is expected to be another source of future tension between the two countries. The United States and China have criticized each other in recent weeks after the delayed launch of the Artemis 1 space launch system, the U.S. mission to return to the moon for half a century.

NASA Administrator Nelson accused China of stealing U.S. space technology. China has also been criticized for creating a lot of space junk.

China's lunar exploration program was set up in 2004 and launched its first spacecraft three years later. China's "Chang'e" program has in recent years focused on collecting samples from the lunar surface. The "Chang'e 7" project is mainly aimed at the south pole of the moon. Scientists believe it is the best place on the moon to find water. NASA has also been focusing on that location.

China aims to eventually build an international research station on the moon, Liu Jizhong, director of the Center for Lunar Exploration and Aerospace Engineering at the China National Space Administration, said Saturday.

On Friday, the China National Space Administration and the National Atomic Energy Agency announced the latest scientific results of the "Chang'e 5" mission, saying they discovered a new mineral on the moon.

Chinese state media say "Chang'e stone" is a phosphate mineral, in the form of columnar crystals, found in lunar basalt grains. Among the 140,000 lunar sample particles collected by "Chang'e 5", the team of the Beijing Institute of Geology of the Nuclear Industry of China National Nuclear Corporation separated a single crystal particle with a size of about 10 microns through a series of technologies such as X-ray diffraction, and successfully Analyze its crystal structure.

The report mentioned that it was confirmed that this is a new mineral and became the sixth new mineral discovered on the moon by the International Mineral Society (IMA) New Mineral Classification and Nomenclature Committee (CNMNC).