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After discussing the Google Lunar Challenge in my last two articles I thought it would be interesting to delve deeper into the commercial development of the moon. The main question is: How do we extend business past the earths sphere of influence to the moon?


To help answer this question I studied the Age of Discovery. The Age of Discovery was all about searching for trading partners, but what it turned into was colonization and searching for valuable materials. Gold fueled the Age of Discovery and was incredibly profitable, but there was a huge upfront cost. For example Columbus’s discovery of the New World was a complete bust in terms of profits, but that initial investment fueled further investment that created a huge profitable gold mining industry. While its impossible for the moon to contain gold, it can harbor a more valuable resource.

In the 21st century profits drive expansion, so we need to find profit in returning to the moon. For example the Lunar Challenge provides companies with a way of earning profit. The companies participating currently utilize the business model of exploration and sale of valuable lunar information. The presence of PGM’s (Platinum Group metals) has long been speculated on the moon but a discovery made by one of the Lunar Challenge companies may act as a catalyst for moon development and cause an explosion of space commerce.

The platinum found on the moon would be a result of impacting meteors. It has also been speculated that because of the moons gravity and its lack of atmosphere, the moon could harbor a significant source of PGM’s(http://www.thespacereview.com/article/205/1).The initial upfront cost of developing moon mining operations would be huge, but the rewards would be great, not only for the mined resources but also for space travel and the development of space commerce.

The moon is already an abundant source of rocket fuel. The rocket fuel could be made on the moon and shipped to gas stations in LEO(low earth orbit), cutting the amount of fuel carried by ships in half, because it takes so much energy to lift the remaining fuel past GEO(greater earth orbit). Sales of the Rocket fuel would push space travel even farther bringing us closer to presence on mars, which is of course NASA’s ultimate goal.

Space commerce today exists in the form of satellite communications and the newly blossoming space tourism. Hopefully by the time space tourism is developing we can have a lunar base and gas station developed in order send tourists to the moon resulting in even greater profits and a bustling space community.