DARPA Picks 14 Companies to Study Feasibility of Lunar Commercial Infrastructure

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected 14 companies to study the possibilities and implications of setting up a commercial lunar civilization.

Under the 10-Year Lunar Architecture Capability Study, the companies will look at rapid technology development concepts for shareable and scalable systems that the United States and other countries can use on the moon. The goal of the LunA-10 study is to identify monetizable services for future lunar users and create a commercial civil space community within the next decade.

Some of the study areas under LunA-10’s initial seven-month study are lunar power; mining and commercial in-situ resource usage; communications, navigation and timing; logistics; and robotics. Firefly Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, SpaceX and Sierra Space are among the companies participating in the study, DARPA said Tuesday.

LunA-10 is one of several efforts across the United States focused on lunar exploration and habitation.

In October, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory agreed to provide lunar science and technology expertise supporting DARPA’s Lunar Operating Guidelines for Infrastructure Consortium. LOGIC is an initiative where DARPA would solicit feedback from NASA, government agencies, private companies and academic institutions on how to develop interoperability standards for critical infrastructure to be installed on the moon.