A series of articles on how the space industry is tackling the hurdles to building a thriving Moon market.
Industry is working every day to establish a long-term, sustainable human presence on the lunar surface. But the challenge of creating a complete, end-to-end cislunar economy doesn’t end with touchdown—or even with setting up shop permanently on the surface. To close the loop, material from the Moon also has to make its way back to Earth.
When four astronauts climb into NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission, they will be doing something no one has done in more than half a century: leaving Earth for a journey to the Moon. Behind this historic flight is a spacecraft designed and built with one unmistakable priority—safeguarding its crew every step of the way.
In the 21st century space race, the contest to reach the Moon feels less like the Cold War and more like Wacky Races.
“There needs to be more transparency on how the world is thinking about lunar sustainability,” said Charity Weeden, a former NASA policy chief whose views do not represent the agency. “It’s critical not to mess up, because you don’t necessarily get a second chance.”
A “mix of old NASA thinking, new NASA thinking, and SLS shortcomings.”
Payload spoke with several companies building next-gen lunar rovers—including Astrolab, ispace, Intuitive Machines, and Lunar Outpost—about the biggest challenges and opportunities in this sector.
Two US companies have proved that industry can land on the Moon. Now, startups are tackling the next challenge: keeping those missions running for years instead of weeks.
The sci fi dreams—and economic boom—that would be fulfilled by establishing a long-term lunar presence all hinge on one thing: the ability to locate, extract, and process water ice on the Moon’s surface.
As the world prepares for the return of crewed missions to the Moon, space agencies are teaming up with the commercial sector to help future missions communicate and navigate the lunar surface.
