Money, alliances

Beijing's space program also serves more practical interests like raising cash and making alliances. China has sold satellites to Venezuela and Nigeria, and plans to build a $300 million satellite for Bolivia.

"So it's no accident that Venezuela and Nigeria, of course, both have oil. And Bolivia, interestingly, is one of the world's largest sources of lithium, which if you think we're all going to drive electric cars, is going to be a vital source," said Analyst Dean Cheng of The Heritage Foundation.

Deals like these are public, but most of China's space program is not. Cheng says that secrecy makes some U.S. officials nervous. "Much of the [Chinese] space infrastructure, for example, is managed by the People's Liberation Army," he said. "So there's a military component there. Also, in the post-Cold War conflicts the U.S. has been involved in, no enemy has ever had space capabilities."

Cheng says that could change as Beijing sells space technology to more countries.

Analysts say a lack of trust between Beijing and Washington has limited cooperation in space. But analyst Joan Johnson-Freese of the Naval War College says there are national security reasons to rethink that policy. "We would have a much better idea of what the Chinese are doing - how much technology they have and how much they have access to," she said.

But even if Washington offers to work with Beijing, Johnson-Freese says China might not accept the invitation. She says like the United States in the 1960s, China's space program is as much about prestige on Earth as it is about exploration in space.