Space commerce: Nasa endeavouring to launch moon mining in 10 years
First customers are expected to be commercial rocket companies that could use moon's resources for fuel or oxygen
June 28, 2023
NASA Wednesday said it was actively pursuing the development of lunar resources, starting with oxygen and water and potentially expanding to include iron and rare earth elements in the future.
The agency has already begun preparations for excavating moon soil by the year 2032.
Nasa’s efforts are underway to take humans to the moon again under its Artemis mission, including the first woman and person of colour by 2025, as the agency eyes its next station to Mars.
Gerald Sanders, a rocket scientist at Johnston Space Centre Nasa for 35 years, said: "A key part of the mission is advancing commercial opportunities in space. The agency is looking to quantify potential resources, including energy, water and lunar soil, as a goal to attract commercial investment."
"Developing access to resources on the moon will be key to cutting costs and developing a circular economy," Sanders said.
"We are trying to invest in the exploration phase, understand the resources... to [lower] risk such that external investment makes sense that could lead to development and production," he told a conference in Brisbane.
"We are literally just scratching the surface," he said.
Nasa has planned to a test drill rig to the moon at the end of the month and eyeing a larger-scale excavation of regolith — moon soil — and a pilot processing plant in 2032.
The first customers are expected to be commercial rocket companies that could use the moon's resources for fuel or oxygen.
Samuel Webster, an assistant director at the agency, said: "The Australian Space Agency is involved in developing a semi-autonomous rover that will take regolith samples on a Nasa mission as early as 2026."
The rover will demonstrate the collection of lunar soil that contains oxygen in the form of oxides.
“Using separate equipment sent to the moon with the rover, NASA will aim to extract that oxygen,” he said.
"This ... is a key step towards establishing a sustainable human presence on the moon, as well (as) supporting future missions to Mars," he added.
