The lack of clear international legal guardrails raises concerns about space becoming concentrated under a few powerful states or private entities, potentially hindering equitable access and sustainable development.

A new space race is emerging between China and the United States, driven by rapid technological advances and commercial interests, as both nations seek to shape international laws and norms for space exploration and resource utilization.

This divergence in strategies—U.S. unilateral norm-building versus China's project-based collaborations—shapes the evolving legal landscape, with significant implications for global influence, security, and the fair use of space resources.

China has evolved from a technologically behind nation in the 1960s to a leading space power, actively engaging in UN negotiations and pursuing lunar projects like the International Lunar Research Station to establish its presence.

China prefers negotiating international treaties within the UN framework, contributing significantly to UNOOSA and proposing treaties such as the PPWT to prevent weaponization, though these efforts have seen limited success.

Meanwhile, the U.S. adopts a law-based approach, enacting domestic legislation like the SPACE Act and supporting private space resource rights, along with voluntary international agreements like the Artemis Accords to promote peaceful and sustainable space activities.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which prohibits national sovereignty claims over celestial bodies and leaves resource use ambiguous, is increasingly outdated given modern space mining and exploitation technologies.