Overview of lunar industrial operations

Large scale power systems in space can be made affordable only by: (A) revolutionary reductions in transport cost to space or (B) if supported by large scale industrial activity based on local (lunar, asteroidal, planetary) materials (Waldron 1985; Waldron 1993). Of the potential sources, only the moon has been studied in sufficient detail at this time to warrant detailed engineering studies of mining, manufacturing, transport and deployment, field or space assembly, or the erection of space power assets, support infrastructure, and general operations. The practicality of lunar industrial activity will depend on optimizing the distribution or locally fabricated vs. imported production and support equipment, and automation Vs human control (direct or teleoperated). The anticipated high transport cost to the moon will mandate the minimization of direct labor requirements, but teleoperation can provide a predominant portion of non‐automated control requirments without excessive cost penalties. The constraint...