{"id":3499,"date":"2026-01-14T01:21:56","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T01:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mycbh.com\/Games\/spaceperium\/a-vision-for-industry-on-the-moon\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T01:21:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T01:21:56","slug":"a-vision-for-industry-on-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mycbh.com\/Games\/spaceperium\/a-vision-for-industry-on-the-moon\/","title":{"rendered":"A vision for industry on the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vision for industry on the Moon
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Credits: Michael Nayak \/ Air University Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Air University Press, the academic publisher of the U.S. Air Force, this last July published the The Commercial Lunar Economy Field Guide: A Vision for Industry on the Moon in the Next Decade<\/a><\/strong>, edited by Michael Nayak. The document presents a revolutionary blueprint for the transformation of the Moon from a scientific curiosity into a vibrant, self-sustaining industrial marketplace in the 2030s. Central to this vision is DARPA\u2019s 10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10)<\/a><\/strong> initiative, which seeks to establish integrated, interoperable infrastructure that lowers the barrier to entry for all lunar users. This may help with execution of the Trump Administration\u2019s recent Executive Order<\/a><\/strong> (EO) which aims to establish a space policy \u201c\u2026 that will extend the reach of human discovery, secure the Nation\u2019s vital economic and security interests, unleash commercial development, and lay the foundation for a new space age\u201d. The Field Guide and the EO are not perfectly aligned but the former provides an architectural blueprint to implement the strategic mandate prescribed by latter. The EO provides the authority and deadlines (e.g., returning to the Moon by 2028), while the Field Guide provides the technical and economic pathways (LunA-10) to achieve those goals in a manner that will add value for taxpayers. While diving into the specifics of the Field Guide, along the way I\u2019ll highlight how it will help implement the EO.<\/p>\n

A Strategic Vision Beyond Unsustainable Symbolism<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For decades, lunar exploration has followed a \u201cFlags and Footprints\u201d paradigm\u2014symbolic, government-funded missions that are entirely self-reliant, bringing every gram of power, water, and data storage from Earth. The Field Guide argues that this approach, while scientifically valuable and a display of national pride, is economically unsustainable at the current \u201cmillion-dollar-per-kilogram\u201d cost of delivery. This is in alignment with the EO which calls for enhancing cost-effectiveness of exploration architectures while establishing initial elements of a permanent<\/em> lunar outpost by 2030 to ensure a sustained<\/em> American presence on the Moon, which will lay the groundwork for the exploration of Mars. <\/p>\n

The Role of LunA-10<\/strong><\/h4>\n

LunA-10 serves as a catalyst to seed the foundational nodes of a future economy on the Moon and in cislunar space. Similar to how DARPA fostered development of the internet and GPS, LunA-10 identifies \u201cscalable nodes\u201d where government investment can accelerate commercial capability. The goal is to move toward a model where NASA and commercial industry can purchase utilities\u2014like power and data\u2014as services, rather than owning the hardware.<\/p>\n

Four Economic Ages of the Moon<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Field Guide identifies four distinct stages of development for the lunar economy:<\/p>\n

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  1. The Exploration Age (2025\u20132030)<\/strong>: Characterized by one-of-a-kind, government-backed missions. Infrastructure is limited, confined to individual landers which are non-extendable.<\/li>\n
  2. The Foundational Age<\/strong>: An era of \u201ctrail-building\u201d where lunar surface transportation infrastructure is built out and users begin to subscribe to pilot services for power and communications.<\/li>\n
  3. The Industrial Age (Target: 2035)<\/strong>: Scaling through commoditization. Multi-service hubs provide consolidated thermal and power management, and large-scale manufacturing begins.<\/li>\n
  4. The Jet Age<\/strong>: A state of self-sufficiency where In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) will produce services such a propellent depots (lunar hydrogen<\/a> and oxygen<\/a>) to enable frequent, low-cost \u201crocket hop\u201d transport across the lunar surface, servicing permanent settlements and supporting missions headed for deep space.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Pillars of Commercial Lunar Infrastructure<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    To achieve this vision, the Field Guide details several critical technology sectors that must transition from their experimental phases to full scale industrialization.<\/p>\n

    Power and Thermal as a Service<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    In the Exploration Age, not being able to survive the 14-day lunar night is a primary mission-killer. LunA-10 proposes Infrastructure Hubs<\/strong>\u2014massive solar power towers, some taller than the Statue of Liberty, placed at the peaks of eternal light at the Moon\u2019s south pole, a concept that SSP has explored previously<\/a>. Here is where the Field Guide diverges a bit from the EO, as the latter calls for surface nuclear reactors as a source of reliable power, prioritizing this initiative to be implemented by 2030. The authors of the Lunar Power chapter were operating under the assumption that NASA\u2019s nuclear Fission Surface Power<\/a> project would not produce hardware soon based on current TRL<\/a>s, so this source of power was outside the LunA-10 timeline. Of course solar power could be complementary to nuclear power sources. With this approach these hubs would include:<\/p>\n