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Legal implications of a cislunar economy

In an article in Live Encounters Magazine, Dr. Namrata Goswami articulates the legal challenges ahead as the major space powers race to capitalize on the potentially lucrative markets made possible by lunar resources. She argues that now is the time to establish the legal framework for enabling private ownership of resources and profitable businesses. The processes for how conflicts will be resolved over trillions of dollars worth of space resources among legal entities must be defined ahead of time. If international agreements are not developed she believes that there may be a “legal vacuum”, resulting in individual states taking matters into their own hands.

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ESA solicits input for European Large Logistic Lander

An artist’s impression of astronauts unloading cargo from ESA’s European Large Logistic Lander. Image courtesy of ESA

In a video message from Jan Wörner, Director General, ESA is asking for ideas on how the agency’s new lander can explore the Moon in the late 2020s. Of particular interest are suggestions for strategies on for the best approaches to science, space resources and technology.

Diagram depicting the timeline and process for idea selection. Image courtesy of ESA

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NRL to demonstrate wireless power transmission in space

The Air Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle which launched into orbit aboard a ULA Atlas V rocket on May 17 contains the first of its kind experiment to test a system for collection of sunlight and conversion to microwave energy for beaming power where it is needed. Space Settlement Progress reported on the possibility of this mission back in December of last year. Now the hardware, called a Photovoltaic Radio-frequency Antenna Module or PRAM, has been launched. Its been a long time coming but finally some of the key elements of a solar power satellite system will get a shake down cruise in space. I’m old enough to have written a report on space solar power satellites in my high school physics class (1974). Assuming positive results, NRL plans a follow-on experiment to beam power down to Earth.

Image of the Photovoltaic Radio-frequency Antenna Module (PRAM) with a centimeter ruler for scale. Image Courtesy of U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

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The Artemis Accords

The Trump Administration is working with international partners to create a regulatory framework for administration of “safety zones” around future lunar mining installations to prevent damage or interference from competing entities operating nearby.

This outstanding view of the whole full moon was photographed from the Apollo 11 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey homew
Image Credit: NASA
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Let there be Lunar Flashlight

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a CubeSat that will utilize near-infrared lasers and an onboard spectrometer to prospect for ice in the permanently shadowed craters at the Moon’s south pole. The suitcase size spacecraft will inform future Artemis missions on where to begin in-situ resource utilization of this valuable commodity for space settlement

This artist’s concept shows the Lunar Flashlight spacecraft, a six-unit CubeSat designed to search for ice on the Moon’s surface using special lasers. The spacecraft will use its near-infrared lasers to shine light into shaded polar regions on the Moon, while an onboard reflectometer will measure surface reflection and composition. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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Pros and Cons of Trump’s Executive Order on Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources

SpaceWatch.Global examines arguments in support and against the EO. Christopher Johnson of Secure World Foundation states in the position in favor:

“The US would like to [be] the leading nation in the use of space resources. It’s worth noting that other States are also interested in space resources, such as Luxembourg, and others.”

On the side arguing against the EO, Dimitra Stefoudi of the University of Leiden says:

“Applied to outer space, the concept of global commons could be interpreted as prohibiting rights over resources found in that area, particularly for commercial purposes, and would be contrary to the US policy of promoting such rights for commercial actors.”

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Breakthrough mission architecture for mining lunar polar ice

Joel Sercel of Trans Astronautica Corporation was recently awarded a Phase II NIAC grant for a Lunar Polar Mining Outpost (LPMO) that promises to greatly reduce the cost of commercializing propellant production on the Moon. The system utilizes two patented innovative concepts for generating power and processing regolith. The first invention is a several meters tall solar reflector tower called a Sun Flower™ to gather sunlight at the permanently illuminated areas near the poles and reflect it down to megawatt level solar arrays near the outpost. The second concept called Radiant Gas Dynamic (RGD) mining combines microwave and infrared radiation to sublimate ice out from the regolith for storage in cryotraps on electric powered rovers. The outpost elements are designed to be delivered to the lunar surface using Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket and Blue Moon lander.

Sercel states that “…LGMO promises to vastly reduce the cost of establishing and maintaining a sizable lunar polar outpost that can serve first as a field station for NASA astronauts exploring the Moon, and then as the beachhead for American lunar industrialization, starting with fulfilling commercial plans for a lunar hotel for tourists”

Diagram of Lunar Polar Propellant Mining Outpost (LPMO) concept
Credits: Joel Sercel
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Easy extraction of lunar water with Aqua Factorem

Philip Metzger of the University of Central Florida (UCF) has just been awarded a Phase I NIAC grant to investigate an innovative water harvesting process that will be cheaper then conventional methods.

“This simple architecture requires the minimum number of in-space elements, and notably does not require an in-space propellant depot, so it provides the lowest cost and lowest risk startup for a commercial operation. The study will also test the innovative Aqua Factorem process through laboratory experiments, and this will produce basic insights into the handling of lunar resources”

Revised 6 May 2020: UCF/Today has an update on this story.

An illustration of what the UCF developed process could look like on the moon. Credit: NASA and Jessica Woodward/UCF