An article penned by Leonard David at Space.Com makes the claim that Moon mining might actually work, and reviews the findings of a number of experts in the field, who finally seem to be getting some traction.
A recent report — “Commercial Lunar Propellant Architecture: A Collaborative Study of Lunar Propellant Production” — has cut to the chase, detailing what’s needed and what happens next. This appraisal by industry writers, NASA, lunar scientists and space lawyers focused on extracting water from the moon’s permanently shadowed regions for use as rocket fuel.
(Click through to the report if you want to be flooded with technical details and designs. It is a PDF document 189 pages long.)
The report explains that, combined with reusable upper stages and landers, a space-based supply of propellant has long been seen as the key that could enable cost-efficient access to much of the inner solar system.
The business case is starting to come together, as it must if we are to make a go of this.
The study has identified a near-term annual demand of 500 tons (450 metric tons) of lunar-derived propellant equating to 2,700 tons (2,450 metric tons) of processed lunar water, generating $2.4 billion of revenue annually.
That’s a celestial ka-ching factor that shouldn’t be ignored. The initial investment for this operation, the report suggests, has been estimated at $4 billion, about the cost of a luxury hotel in Las Vegas.
The report recommends a phased approach:
— Establish benchmarks proposed by NASA and others regarding propellant demand, price and location of use as customer base.
— Undertake prospecting and science exploration of lunar polar regions.
— Develop improved space law to facilitate commercial use of lunar resources.
— Form commercial lunar propellant companies to manage the many subcontractors.
— Secure investment for technology development and maturity.
Of course, with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin taking the reins in their teeth and charging out ahead, damn the torpedoes and lawyers, there’s no telling how this next decade is going to play out. But in any event, I think we’re finally starting to get a man-to-the-moon head of steam up again.
Finally. It’s about time.
3 replies on “We might finally be getting serious about going back to the Moon”
Don’t be fooled by the “noise”. There is a lot more to going to the moon than using 3-stage rockets and “moon landers”. I would suggest that if they are saying that they are “thinking of going”, then that project started at least 10 years ago, more like 25. The fact is that getting out of our atmosphere and moving beyond the radiation belt requires a time/space calculation that NASA hardly admits they need to know. As Ben Rich said years ago, the physics calculations were actually wrong and we now have the ability to “take ET home”. In a nut shell.
I am hardly an expert but I do pay attention to those who are. Google “Secret Space Program, San Mateo, CA 2014” and “SSP, Bastrop, TX 2015”. GizaDeathStar.com and the plethora of books written by Dr. Joseph P. Farrell.
That is exciting stuff. The more companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin take the reigns and the government stays out of it the better the chances of something positive happening. If politicians start taking more than a casual interest the whole thing with politicize into snafu.
All I want for Christmas in nice big lava cave lined with water ice with just 5% cyanate ice mixed in. H2O HCN.