It’s Europe also. And India and Japan are both interested, have had serious plans in the past though mainly active in robotics at present. And there are numerous Space X candidates and even NASA is involved in robotic exploration of the Moon indirectly through participation with the astrobiotics lunar lander and through plans to send various cubesats to orbit the Moon in 2018 with the first SLS space launch. And it has plans for a robotic lunar prospector.

Also there’s the US commercial space sector, including SpaceX - though they have no interest in the Moon themselves for some reason, they won’t turn up the chance to earn money from sending spaceships to the Moon for their customers.

I think the most likely to succeed myself is the ESA village which has all the bases from the different agencies in one place. That way they can support each other in many ways.

I think that with a lunar base with astronauts from other countries coming and going, perhaps half a dozen there, perhaps eventually many more,that the US will not want to just send their astronauts to asteroids and ignore the Moon but would surelywant to send some of their people there too, if for no other reason,to see first hand what is going on.

So, yes I think they will get involved myself. And I think there is alos a chance that they will at an early stage. It so depends on the president in the US. President Bush was keen to return to the Moon. President Obama said “We’ve been there, done that” and pretty much prohibited NASA from even thinking about humans to the Moon saying they should focus all their longer range plans on the most effective way to send humans to Mars, ignoring the Moon. So they were like opposite positions in this debate. What will the next president say?

We have no way to tell as neither Hilary Clinton nor Donald Trump nor indeed Bernie Sanders have said anything at all on what they think about the Moon first versus go to Mars and ignore the Moon.

But whatever the US government say, the US commercial companies may well be involved. Not just SpaceX ferrying customers. Also Bigelow Aerospace designs inflatable habitats and their habitats may well be amongst the first habitats on the Moon.

See also my Case For Moon First