Lagrange Points Could Become Battlegrounds in a New Space Race

A new ‘space race’ is heating up between the US and China in space exploration, and Lagrange points are emerging as a battleground. Named after the astronomer Joseph-Louis Lagrange, they are locations in interplanetary space where the gravitational pull of two celestial bodies (like the Earth and the Sun) balances the centripetal force needed for a smaller object to orbit steadily between them. There are five different Lagrange points in the Sun and Earth-Moon system, labeled L1 to L5, that result from these unique points of interaction with gravity. L4 and L5 are nestled at fixed positions 60 degrees ahead…