NASA is already in talks with private companies about launching mining operations on the moon. NASA has recently intensified its efforts into finding out more about our closest celestial neighbour having launched four successful missions to the moon since 2009. The missions have identified traces of water and other elements that could be more abundant on the moon than on Earth. NASA’s director of advanced exploration systems, Jason Crusan, explained that in order “to understand the extent and accessibility of these resources, we (NASA) need to reach the surface and explore up close.”
NASA’s Lunar Cargo Transportation and Landing by Soft Touchdown (CATALYST) program is the agency’s latest effort to team up with private industry to further research in space. In simple terms CATALYST aims to develop a new generation of robotic lunar landers that can be used to deliver things to the surface of the moon. One of the payloads that will be looked at is a lunar mining prospector which would be used to hunt down potential targets for mining.
NASA is no stranger to working with private industry in space. The space agency already uses two private companies, Elon Musk’s Space X and Orbital Sciences Corporation, to resupply the International Space Station and have also agreed to work with space tourism companies like Virgin Galactic. The initial proposals for CATALYST are due to be submitted today, with the deadline for the final proposals set for March 17th.
There is still a lot of planning to be done before any company can begin mining operations on the moon. The 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty prevents any country from “appropriating the moon”, but it fails to deal with private enterprise claiming rights to what could be a mineral rich environment. Robert Bigelow, who’s company already holds a contract with NASA, called on the American Federal Aviation Administration to allow lunar mining rights to be claimed. What is clear is that space has become the next frontier for business and that regulation will need to be introduced sooner rather than later.
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