If resources on the Moon are scarce, how can we ensure long-term human presence is sustainable?
Antonino Salmeri | Doctoral Researcher in Space Law at the University of Luxembourg; Lead on the E.A.G.L.E. Action Team on Lunar Governance; Lead on S.E.P.G. for the Space Generation Advisory Council
This post was written by Antonino Salmeri for the first edition of The Transmission, Moon Dialogs’ limited-edition newsletter. Learn more and subscribe!
At first glance, talking about the scarcity of resources within the endless vastness of space may seem paradoxical. Yet, this is the situation we face on the Moon. Our only natural satellite is, unfortunately, unable to renew its resources, which means that everything on the Moon comes, by definition, in limited quantities (unless refilled by external forces). This inherent scarcity of lunar resources naturally brings to mind the question of how to manage them. An old saying is that if you want to know how advanced a given society is, you should look at how it treats its minorities. On a similar line of reasoning, the way we manage lunar resources will reveal the true colours of humankind as a spacefaring civilization.
Sustainability as a means to achieve inclusiveness
I argue that in light of the scientific, cultural, and spiritual importance of the Moon for all of humanity, lunar resource management should first and foremost aim for sustainability as a means to achieve inclusiveness. The Moon has always been there for us, and it should continue to welcome all humans across time and space. From an intergenerational viewpoint, preserving the continued accessibility of the Moon is not a choice, it is a necessity. In this perspective, being mindful of the special significance of the Moon is the first and most important step towards the sustainable establishment of a long-term presence. Only if we accept the limitations imposed by the scarcity of lunar resources and the hostility of its environment, can we turn these apparent obstacles into opportunities.
In light of the scientific, cultural, and spiritual importance of the Moon for all of humanity, lunar resource management should first and foremost aim for sustainability as a means to achieve inclusiveness.
The law of conservation of mass tells us that nothing is lost and nothing is created [because] everything is transformed. In accordance with this essential universal principle, the natural solution to the problem of scarcity is circularity. In a circular system, the value of each resource is maximized by connecting its individual processing with secondary actions that can benefit from it. On Earth, circular processes like the lithogenic, atmospheric and biogenic cycles have successfully renewed the resources of the planet for billions of years (until humans began disrupting these cycles, of course). The Moon has no such cycles of its own, but we can fill this gap by conducting activities as part of a circular ecosystem. When Buzz Aldrin became the second human to visit the lunar surface, he described it as a “magnificent desolation.” Well, the (current) lunar desolation offers us a unique opportunity to develop a virtuous circular ecosystem for managing its resources. Further, lunar circularity would also increase our efficiency, since it would allow us to avoid duplications, as well as distribute costs and create new market opportunities. Finally, achieving circularity on the Moon would also be beneficial for the sustainable development of the Earth—it would provide us with technologies and processes for resource management in extreme environments.
At present, one of the most valuable resources on the lunar surface is ice, which can be turned into water or separated into oxygen and hydrogen. Adopting a circular approach to lunar resource management means that actors mining the ice to get hydrogen will also have to take care of the oxygen released in the process (and vice versa).
Image credit: Michael Fenton (Unsplash)
A circular system on the Moon, what could that look like?
An example might help to clarify this idea. At present, one of the most valuable resources on the lunar surface is ice, which can be turned into water or separated into oxygen and hydrogen. Adopting a circular approach to lunar resource management means that actors mining the ice to get hydrogen will also have to take care of the oxygen released in the process (and vice versa). In the early stages of lunar activities, this will likely mean storing the other resource(s) in natural cold traps or artificial facilities. Later on, we could envision shared lunar ice plants hosting both oxygen and hydrogen miners, or perhaps the beginning of a value chain where miners extract, store and later transfer resources to processers.
A circular approach to lunar resource management is also a natural mitigation strategy against the risk of harmful interference. The use of lunar land is a case in point. Because of the physics of the Moon, landing on (and taking off) its surface inherently produces a series of consequences, such as vibrations generation and dust distribution, that can harmfully impact other lunar activities. For example, if one is conducting a study on the geologic activity of the Moon and a spacecraft lands in the vicinity, that study may be at best altered and at worst compromised if not terminated. Mutatis mutandis (“all necessary changes having been made”), the same might happen to mining, processing, and essentially, to every lunar activity that could be negatively impacted by dust and vibrations. By adopting a holistic approach to lunar resource management, we could assign a given area of the Moon to landing activities, for example, thus preserving the remaining locations from their negative impacts. Further, designating a specific area for landing would allow for the safe and efficient development of associated services like refuel, maintenance, refurbishment, storage, and transport.
To be sure, a circular approach to lunar resource management implies a series of secondary processes which bring additional costs and risks. Under Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty, the risks would be legally borne by the relevant State(s) internationally responsible for the given activity. Concerning the costs, I argue that they should be proportionally shared by lunar operators and their responsible governments and that this proportion should change in time based upon lunar economic development. In the early stages of lunar activities, for example, governments should bear the majority of these costs because lunar operators would not have the resources to do so. As the economic development of the Moon proceeds, the balance should progressively shift towards lunar operators.
By developing the Moon as a circular ecosystem we would honour its critical role in humanity and make the most of its (scarce) resources, especially in the long term.
In conclusion, I argue that to ensure the sustainability of lunar activities we have to develop the Moon as a circular ecosystem. The time to do that is now when we can still leverage its “magnificent desolation” to build such a system from zero. The Moon is humanity’s only natural satellite. Its significance goes beyond individual missions, actors or countries—no matter how important, rich or powerful. By developing the Moon as a circular ecosystem we would honour its critical role in humanity and make the most of its (scarce) resources, especially in the long term. I argue that the best way to succeed at this is through a structured, global, multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary conversation on circularity. At the Space Generation Advisory Council we are building the foundations for this conversation through two complementary initiatives, respectively focused on the policy and technical sides: the Effective and Adaptive Governance for a Lunar Ecosystem (E.A.G.L.E.) and the Technical Unit Research for a Thriving Lunar Ecosystem (T.U.R.T.L.E.). I am grateful to the Moon Dialogs conveners for their efforts and contributions to this conversation, and I look forward to continuing it further with all interested parties.
For further reading on this subject from Antonino, take a look at:
Waste Management for Lunar Resources Activities: Towards a Circular Lunar Economy, Proceedings of the 71st International Astronautical Congress (2020) by Paolo Pino, Antonino Salmeri, Adam Hugo and Shayna Humes. (An edited version will be published in the next edition of New Space.)
Towards a Lunar Exploration Technology Adaptive Roadmap: Contributions from SGAC’s Technical Unit Research for a Thriving Lunar Ecosystem, forthcoming (accepted for the 72nd International Astronautical Congress) by Paolo Pino, Antonino Salmeri & al.
The EAGLE Report, available at https://spacegeneration.org/eagle/documents.
About the author: Antonino Salmeri is a doctoral researcher in Space Law at the University of Luxembourg, where he is pursuing a PhD on regulatory options and enforcement challenges of space mining under the supervision of Prof. Mahulena Hofmann and the support of the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) (PRIDE17/12251371). Within the space community, Antonino is the Lead of both the E.A.G.L.E. Action Team on Lunar Governance and the S.E.P.G. for Space Generation Advisory Council, Member of the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (where he co-chairs the subgroup on information sharing), Governing Member of the International Space University and Member of the International Institute of Space Law.
Image credit: Nancy Liang (CC BY -NC-ND)