THE NEW SPACE RACE: The New Race to Reach the Moon—and Find Water: Promise of water draws countries, companies; Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crash is second failed landing this year.

Nations and private companies are racing to send devices to the surface of the moon. Sticking the landing is another story.

A surge in missions planned for the lunar surface is unfolding around the world, driven by renewed ambitions for scientific research and deep-space exploration. Many aim for the moon’s south pole, where scientists first detected hints of water ice in 2008 and 2009.

Water is a critical resource for a future lunar base—it could one day be used for drinking and cooling equipment, or even to make rocket fuel to power missions to places further away in the solar system, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Tapping natural lunar resources could mean future spaceships wouldn’t have to lug fuel from Earth.

“Water is the key for many aspects of living on the moon,” said Csaba Palotai, an associate professor of planetary sciences at the Florida Institute of Technology. “And the suspicion is that there’s lots of it—that’s why we’re going through these missions to verify how much, exactly, there is.”

The presence of water at the lunar south pole is also raising concerns about how such resources may be claimed. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson recently said he didn’t want to see China land crews on the south pole first and claim water resources there. China has said that space exploration should promote development for all countries and benefit all humankind.

Researchers have confirmed water exists on other parts of the moon, including both the sunlit and shadowed surfaces.

It’s raining soup, for those with a bucket.