Transform the Moon into humanity’s first space center

This year will mark a turning point in humanity’s relationship with the moonas we begin to lay the foundations for a permanent presence on its surface, paving the way for our natural satellite to become an industrial center – one that will lead us to Mars and beyond.

The development of a lunar economy boils down to three critical elements: the ability to reach, the means of resupply for the return trip, and profitable businesses operating on the lunar surface. And, by 2025, technologies in all three areas will begin to take tangible form.

For nearly a decade, the titans of private space exploration—SpaceX and Origin Blue– were locked in a race to reach the moon. SpaceX’s latest rocket, Starship, is central to this effort. At almost double the height (121 meters versus 70 meters), and three times the width (9 meters versus 3.7 meters) of its predecessor, Falcon 9, Starship certainly has the size, but it is also designed to change the way of thinking about space. to travel Unlike traditional rockets, which are used once and then discarded, Starship can be reused for multiple flights and even refueled while in orbit. Its increased power means it can deliver about 100 metric tons of payloads to the moon in a single trip – that’s roughly the equivalent of all the payloads sent to the moon in history combined, but in one go.

Traditional breeds can only provide approx 0.1 percent of its total takeoff weight to the moon, but Starship, with its refueling capability, can deliver about 2 percent. Imagine this: If a traditional rocket was a moving truck, it would be like using an 18-wheeler to deliver a suitcase. With Starship, the cost per ton of payload transported to the lunar surface drops, making lunar missions more affordable.

Not far away is Blue Origin’s Blue moon landing. Although it may be smaller than Starship, with a capacity of nearly 3 metric tons, Blue Moon is designed to deliver heavy equipment and infrastructure, the tools that will transform the moon from a barren outpost into an industrial base prosperous Together, these vehicles lay the foundations for a nascent lunar economy.

By 2025, SpaceX plans to demonstrate the full range of Starship capabilities, including its ability to refuel in orbit and be reused, reducing the costs of lunar transportation and making the moon more accessible than ever. This is part of an ongoing series of orbital flight tests, which began in 2023 and continued until 2024, and will do so in 2025.