A new space race is heating up after half a century, with Russia, China, and the United States competing to send robots, astronauts, and even spacecraft to the Moon.
The winner of this race will possess a highly valuable treasure: resources ranging from rare earth minerals used in electronics to Helium-3, a potential energy source that could fuel a nuclear fusion revolution, providing endless clean energy.
Morgan Stanley previously suggested that the global space industry could be worth $1 trillion annually by 2040—and could make Elon Musk (CEO of SpaceX) the world’s first trillionaire.
The “Moon Mining” Race Heats Up
NASA plans to send the first woman to Mars by the middle of this decade. Additionally, NASA, Russia, and China are all working on plans to establish bases on the Moon in the near future.
American defense contractor Northrop Grumman plans to build a rail system on the Moon to transport goods between bases, with the Moon’s south pole believed to be a location for water reserves (which could be converted into fuel for spacecraft mining asteroids or landing on Mars).
NASA has referred to a “Moon gold rush,” where Russia has stated it will deploy upcoming Moon missions and explore the possibility of a joint Russian-Chinese crewed mission, and even a base on the Moon.
According to research by Boeing, rare earth metals—used in smartphones, computers, and advanced technologies—are available on the Moon.
Helium-3 is a very rare form of helium on Earth, but NASA estimates that there are about one million tons of helium on the Moon.
Helium-3 could provide nuclear energy in fusion reactors, but because it is non-radioactive, it would not produce hazardous waste (although nuclear fusion has yet to be financially viable, despite recent breakthroughs).
Most “Moon mining” plans involve robots doing the majority of the work, supervised by humans at bases on the Moon or on orbiting space stations.
However, the laws regarding who “owns” the Moon or its resources remain unclear. Currently, over 80 countries have a presence in space. Water will be a crucial resource on the Moon.
The 1966 United Nations Outer Space Treaty states that no nation can claim sovereignty over the Moon, although lawyers say it is unclear whether a private entity can claim sovereignty over areas.
In 2020, the United States announced the Artemis Accords to establish “safe zones” on the Moon—but Russia and China have yet to participate.
The Moon’s south pole is a target for both China and NASA, which has identified 13 potential landing sites near the Moon’s south pole for Artemis III, which will return humans to the Moon.
Only 12 people have ever walked on the Moon—all men—and no one has set foot on the Moon since Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt in December 1972.
