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Have any other countries confirmed the US moon landings?
Executive summary
Multiple independent countries and their space agencies have confirmed and achieved moon landings, but only the United States has landed humans there; other nations’ confirmations come largely via robotic missions and independent tracking. As of early 2025, at least five nations — the United States, the Soviet Union/Russia, China, India and Japan — have completed successful soft or controlled landings on the lunar surface [1] [2].
1. What “confirmation” means: independent robotic landings and external tracking
When people ask whether other countries “confirmed” the U.S. Apollo landings, reporting and technical literature point to two different types of independent corroboration: later, independent landings and measurements that match Apollo-era locations (for example, laser retroreflectors), and contemporaneous foreign monitoring during Apollo. Many modern references emphasize third‑party verification in the sense of independent missions and measurements rather than a single formal diplomatic “confirmation” document [3] [4].
2. Countries that have landed on the Moon (robotic and crewed) — the short list
Contemporary summaries and mission lists consistently show five nations with successful soft/controlled lunar landings: the Soviet Union (often referenced as USSR/Russia), the United States, China, India and, most recently, Japan — with multiple sources repeating that list [1] [2] [5]. Those same sources also note the U.S. remains the only nation to have landed humans on the Moon [6] [7].
3. How other countries have “verified” Apollo in practice
Third‑party technical evidence cited in reporting and community technical discussions includes items left on the Moon (retroreflectors) and independent attempts to image or detect Apollo hardware. The retroreflectors left by several Apollo missions can be pinged from many ground sites around the world and are physically where U.S. reports said they were — this is often presented as a strong technical corroboration of Apollo-era landings [3]. Available sources do not provide a catalogue of every country’s contemporaneous diplomatic statement, focusing instead on technical, mission-based corroboration [3].
4. Modern landings are predominantly robotic; human vs. robotic distinctions matter
News outlets and data aggregators emphasize that post‑Apollo lunar successes by other countries have been robotic. The U.S. uniquely conducted six crewed landings (Apollo) through 1972; all other listed countries’ lunar landings have been uncrewed probes or landers [1] [7]. This is why many headlines say “no other country has landed humans on the Moon” while also noting several nations have landed spacecraft there [6] [5].
5. Recent context: renewed activity and the “five nations” framing
Reporting around 2023–2025 highlights a renaissance in lunar missions and reiterates the five‑nation count. For example, Japan’s SLIM mission (January 2024) is described by multiple outlets as making Japan the most recent country to accomplish a soft landing, bringing the commonly cited total to five [8] [2] [5]. Reuters, Al Jazeera and others use the same framing when covering new landings, underscoring that these are independent technological accomplishments that also serve as indirect confirmations of lunar lander capability and of the reality of prior missions [2] [9].
6. Disagreements, caveats and gaps in reporting
Sources vary slightly in how many countries they list (some older resources list four, others five), reflecting timing: counts changed as India and Japan achieved recent landings and as private U.S. landers resumed lunar touch‑downs [4] [1] [2]. VisualCapitalist and some older NASA pages earlier listed four nations; newer lists and news stories (post‑Chandrayaan‑3 and SLIM) list five [10] [1]. Available sources do not provide a comprehensive inventory of every foreign monitoring signal or diplomatic statement from the Apollo era—reporting focuses on mission outcomes and modern technical verification [3].
7. What this means for moon‑landing skepticism and public debates
Journalistic and technical sources present multiple lines of independent evidence (retroreflectors, foreign imaging/tracking, later landers visiting or imaging Apollo sites) that corroborate Apollo and other landings; community technical posts and mainstream outlets treat those as persuasive evidence against conspiracy claims [3]. Still, the sources stress that scientific and mission data — not single government proclamations — are the robust basis for validation [3] [4].
8. Bottom line and recommended next steps for readers
If your concern is whether other nations independently verified U.S. moon landings: modern technical evidence and subsequent independent lunar missions provide strong third‑party corroboration, and multiple countries have performed successful lunar landings (robotic) in addition to the U.S. human missions [3] [1]. For a deeper dive, review mission lists and retroreflector measurement summaries cited in technical literature and archives [1] [3]; available sources do not include every contemporaneous diplomatic statement confirming Apollo, focusing instead on mission data and later independent measurements [3].