Communists are Still Winning the Space Race

In 1957, the Soviet Union stunned the world with the launch of Sputnik. A few years later, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, orbiting the planet with a smile and a red star on his sleeve. The capitalist press panicked. The Pentagon trembled. And Eisenhower? He nearly choked on his golf ball.

Fast forward to today, and the liberal West still clings to outdated fantasies of “American leadership” in space. Elon Musk tweets memes, NASA builds PowerPoints, and Congress debates whether or not space counts as infrastructure. Meanwhile, China—the world's largest socialist power—has quietly, methodically, and magnificently reignited the flame of space communism.

Let’s talk facts. In 2021, China became the first country to land a rover on the far side of the moon. They’ve sent up a full modular space station (Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace”), with a rotating crew of taikonauts—yes, they use that word, and yes, it's cooler than "astronaut"—and they plan to establish a moon base before the end of the decade. Not to mention Mars missions, asteroid sampling, satellite networks, quantum communications, and lunar mining prospects.

All of this was done not through “market innovation” or Silicon Valley ego-trips, but through centralized planning, national coordination, and socialist ambition.

Western media loves to paint Chinese space efforts as secretive, authoritarian, or “aggressive.” But let’s be honest: what’s more aggressive than the US Space Force, or Jeff Bezos launching himself into orbit like a bored Bond villain? What’s more dystopian than billionaires escaping a dying Earth on rockets built with tax-evaded dollars?

China’s space program, by contrast, serves the people. It uplifts science education. It fosters international cooperation (offering payload slots to developing nations). And it points to a future beyond capitalism—one where space is not colonized, but shared. One where the stars belong to everyone, not just the rich.

As President Xi Jinping put it, “The space dream is part of the dream to make China stronger.” And that dream doesn’t end with national glory—it reaches toward the collective future of all humanity. In a world where imperial decay accelerates and private capital abandons Earth in search of escape pods, the socialist camp looks up—and builds.

The red flag went up first. It might just be the last one flying, too.

The future is bright. The future is red. And the future is interstellar.