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Cracking the Code on the Lunar Economy
Photo: NASA
This piece is part of a commentary series called Why Go to the Moon? that analyzes the strategic, economic, scientific, and geopolitical drivers of renewed U.S. lunar exploration.
As the United States pivots to the economic development of the Moon under the leadership of President Donald Trump and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, it is crucial to learn from history. Space is just another place—what works on Earth will also work in space. I propose that we develop the Moon as a real estate development project, chartered by the United States, using the same methods proven here on Earth.
Real estate is the largest economic asset class on Earth. The total estimated value of real estate on Earth today is around $400 trillion. Annual construction worldwide (to include buildings and infrastructure) is estimated to exceed $15 trillion per year.
The United States knows how to manage real estate development and infrastructure projects, to build large, expensive and technically complex projects, and to create spaces for humans to live, work, and play. These methods are used to build airports, seaports, skyscrapers, and mixed-use projects where people live, participate in commercial activities, mine resources, and manufacture world-class products.
A decade ago, I led a NASA-funded study with dozens of retired NASA senior executives, astronauts, and engineers, to evaluate the feasibility of a commercially developed lunar base in partnership with NASA. We concluded that a commercial partnership approach to a permanent base on the Moon was both technically feasible and affordable. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine adopted two of the recommendations, leading to the creation of the NASA Human Landing System and Commercial Lunar Payload Services programs. Perhaps the most overlooked recommendation from that NASA-funded study was the recommendation to create a lunar authority in partnership with our closest international allies.
During the study the research team explicitly reviewed many different governance models for their ability to incentivize and stimulate commercial investment in high-risk endeavors, and evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of them all. Using this analysis of alternatives, the study team recommended that the United States charter an “international lunar authority,” modeled after a combination of the best features of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PA-NYNJ), and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which is an international authority composed of more than 20 nations (see Table 1).
Charles Miller
Co-founding CEO, Lynk Global, Inc., and Former Head, NASA Landing Team
History demonstrates that “authorities” are amazingly effective organizations for economic development. They are used all over the world, and in every state of the United States. They are so effective, they are mostly invisible. Organizations that work well don’t make the news.
Authorities are used for transportation projects, urban renewal projects, electric, water and gas projects, to create school districts and public hospitals, and for flood control. These projects mix the most advanced technologies with efficient private industry development and operations, and include government regulation and oversight to protect human interests.
Authorities are ubiquitous around the world—they operate in every country in Europe, in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and South Korea. They are used in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates. In the United States alone, there are over 3,000 housing authorities, over 3,000 water supply authorities, and over 200 power authorities. Examples are the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, with a $9 billion annual budget, the Houston Public Works authority with an annual budget of $3.5 billion, and the Cape Canaveral Port Authority that was established in 1939.
I propose the development of an international Lunar Development Authority (LDA), chartered and led by the United States, that would serve as a quasi-governmental regulator. The base on the Moon would be managed as a master-planned infrastructure development project, with NASA as the key strategic partner, emphasizing commercial methods and an investor mindset to drive economic viability in both the near and long term. The LDA would prioritize development of lunar resources to lower costs and serve customers, and treat the United States government and the governments of our allies as anchor tenant customers. The LDA would leverage public-private partnerships and cooperation among both governmental and private industry tenants from many countries to finance and develop lunar infrastructure in a commercial manner.
As a successful real estate developer, President Trump will understand the vision for this function. Administrator Isaacman is another successful businessman who will also understand that the United States needs to innovate in business models as well as technologies. To quote the administrator:
The President’s National Space Policy envisions a Moon base, with repeated and affordable missions to the lunar environment. Along that journey, some functions that NASA has performed in the past and present may move to industry in the future.
In a memo to his workforce, he continued:
“For too long, we have operated as the sole customer and the sole financier of our most ambitious goals. If our presence in space is to be enduring, it cannot be fragile. We must build an orbital and lunar economy that can stand on its own and not rely exclusively on the taxpayer. NASA’s role is to ignite the engine and clear the path, but the private sector must eventually drive the train.”
To achieve the president’s goals, and to meet Administrator Isaacman’s mandate to build an orbital economy that will stand on its own, the administration must begin with the end in mind. The United States must change its business model.
I propose that we learn from the success of the real estate industry here on Earth and develop the Moon as a real estate project. The next step is creating a Lunar Development Authority.
Charles Miller is a serial space entrepreneur whose most recent venture was as co-founding CEO of Lynk Global, Inc., the inventor of satellite-direct-to-phone technology. More recently, he served as the head of the NASA landing team for the Trump-Vance transition.