This paper will explore potential cooperative efforts between industry and government for commercial development of the Moon. Incentives for mining industry involvement will be suggested, and a phased program will be suggested which would maximize leverage from initial public funding toward rapid evolution of an early lunar base into commercial self-sufficiency. Roadblocks to industry participation in space mining are identified, and potential solutions are recommended. The goal of this paper is to lay the foundation for support of future space mining entrepreneurs. The fundamental stages of a successful public-private lunar mining venture are cost sharing for establishing the initial infrastructure and the creation of opportunity for economic returns. A vision of an early lunar mining partnership includes the mining of regolith to produce lunar liquid Oxygen (LLOX) as the first commercial product, to be sponsored by the government agency or international cooperative who builds and operates the first lunar outpost. A private industry entity with both mining and aerospace experience would be selected as a contractor and operator, with the government agency serving as both the transportation provider and initial customer. Incentives for productivity beyond a given baseline would be in place to create an atmosphere of innovation and rapid improvement. Additional processing circuits for the production of other materials (i.e. metals, ceramics, solar-wind gases, Helium-3, etc.) would be encouraged through discounted transportation and construction costs, and would form the basis for profitability of the mine as the customer base is developed. Part of this customer base would be private industrial entities, which would be attracted by favorable raw-material pricing. As additional lunar outposts are created, their mining needs should be provided by separate mining contractors to help create a competitive environment that stimulates innovation and the expansion of a new industry.
Commercial Mining Activities for the Space Frontier
Fifth International Conference on Space ; 1996 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
1996-07-19
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Commercial Mining Activities for the Space Frontier
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