Exploring the Potential for Lunar Commerce

Setting Priorities: The Second Lunar Commerce Executive Roundtable

The second Lunar Commerce Executive Roundtable (LCER) demonstrated commercial potential sufficiently compelling to merit further, more intense investigation of:
• lunar-enabled solar power as a vital addition to Earth's portfolio of energy sources;
• lunar-produced propellant to facilitate essential Earth-Moon transportation services;
• high-definition cameras to enable entertainment, advertising, branding, and sponsorship,
• robotics to accelerate lunar activity, beginning with a lander demonstration by 2011; and
• legal/regulatory clarification and public private partnerships to encourage investment.

This landmark event took place on 26-27 October 2005 at the Lunar and Planetary Institute and the South Shore Harbour Resort in Houston. The meeting continued the progress begun at the first roundtable, held in Dallas on 24 June 2005 at the Maguire Energy Institute, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University. Whereas the first roundtable invited non-space industry leaders to consider a wide range of opportunities, the second roundtable acted decisively to prioritize lunar options and plan concrete steps forward. Roundtable sponsors included both major contractors and entrepreneurial firms—The Boeing Company / NASA Systems (Chair), Lockheed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Raytheon Company, Honeywell International, Transformational Space Corporation (tSpace), and Lunar Transportation Systems.

The first day of the roundtable involved only LCER invitees, and, to facilitate active and open dialogue, was closed to the press. The second day was a joint session of the LCER with two groups of lunar science and technology experts--the Space Resources Roundtable and the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group. Media coverage of this second day was significant, involving industry sponsors participating in interviews with radio, television, and print journalists. LCER attendance was significantly larger in October than in June, increasing from 71 to 91 and for the first time involving international as well as U.S. companies.

Lunar solar power discussions addressed terrestrial energy supply and demand, new technologies, near-term profit opportunities involving robotics, and an integrated roadmap showing possible milestones over the next two decades. Also considered were lunar business opportunities involving media and propellant production. A point of considerable emphasis was the enabling role of robotics for both solar energy and media, making automated and remote control activity possible well before significant human presence. Participants showed intense interest in the possibility of a commercial demonstration payload sharing space on NASA's second Robotic Lunar Exploration Program mission, a lunar lander projected for deployment by 2011. An important additional topic involved public-private partnerships and refinement of the legal, regulatory, and policy framework to stimulate interest from industry and the investment community. Because dialogue was the main purpose of the roundtable, participants divided into breakout groups for focused consideration of solar power technology, solar power sales, oxygen-hydrogen vehicle propellant, media, legal/regulatory and public private partnership options, multiple-customer commercial/scientific/exploration facilities, and civil engineering ventures.

Clearly, the second Lunar Commerce Executive Roundtable demonstrated that business opportunities are sufficiently robust to justify rigorous study by government and industry. Building on the successes of 2005, preparations for a 2006 roundtable have already begun.