China Clocks the Moon
The Space Diplomacy Newsletter-Event Tracker
As infrastructure goes, keeping time precisely on the moon is foundational. Time ticks faster on the moon compared to Earth because of less gravity, and Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) capabilities will be as important for lunar missions and activities just as they are for structuring realities around us on Earth. China has taken an important step in moving these foundations forward.
There have certainly been calls in Europe and the United States to establish a lunar clock. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted a set of resolutions on this front in 2024. Resolution III underscored the importance of an “internationally recognized” timing mechanism in the face of increased robotic and human activity on the moon; it recommended that such efforts be pursued in “collaborative agreement among the relevant international organizations.” This likely meant the IAU, national space agencies, UN bodies, and especially the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), the global measurements body in France that also keeps the world’s clocks in sync.
The IAU resolution steers clear of unilateral time-setting standards – rival national clocks that may complicate all kinds of lunar operations. This is where China’s recent achievement come into diplomatic focus. Chinese scientists have come up with ready-to-use lunar timekeeping software. It automatically converts moon time to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the world’s official atomic time standard maintained by BIPM. This responds to a scientific consensus that UTC (Earth time tied to Earth physics) cannot just be extended to the moon where time passes differently, and where errors will accumulate over time as activities expand.
China has made a standard-setting move that has the potential to bring actors together in the service of shared and needed lunar infrastructure. It is a high-profile diplomatic opportunity for China, as well as France. Tick. Tock. So does this mean that it is time for them to lead a dialogue about the moonclock...?
