The United States is thinking about how to create infrastructure and build an economy on the Moon in the next 10 years. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is subordinated to the Ministry of Defense, has taken on this task, writes Gizmodo.
To this end, the agency has launched the LunA-10 project, which will select companies to provide various services related to energy, communications or navigation on the Moon. The project participants will be announced in October 2023, and the final report will be published by June 2024.
The selected companies will work together on infrastructure ideas that will help build a lunar economy. At the same time, DARPA will not fund the construction or transportation of any of the concepts.
“A large paradigm shift is coming in the next 10 years for the lunar economy,” Michael Nayak, program manager at DARPA’s Strategic Technology Office, said in a statement. “To get to a turning point faster, LunA-10 uniquely aims to identify solutions that can enable multi-mission lunar systems.”
As part of the project, DARPA is working with NASA to complement the space agency’s goals for flights from the Moon to Mars. NASA wants to use the Moon as a testing ground for Mars, developing ways for humans to survive for long periods of time on a surface other than Earth’s.
Earlier, scientists found out that direct photochemical reactions can provide people with the oxygen and hydrogen needed for long-term living on Mars or the Moon.
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