[Karunamon]

>Another country investing in space gets humanity closer to that future.

Not unless they're doing something new, they don't. This is what I meant by "the ground here is well-trodden". Getting to the moon is within the reach of any nation with a modern space program, the US just hasn't done it for a long while since there hasn't been any pressing need (political or research) for them to do so.

[fastball]

You start proving you can do things that have already been done and then you move on to new things.