Developing a sustainable human lunar presence using space resources

With humanity set to return to the Moon in the coming decade, sustainability is emerging as a key consideration in future lunar exploration activities. This perspective considers space sustainability through the lens of three domains: On Earth, In Earth Orbit, and Beyond Earth Orbit, and examines humanity’s future exploration of the Moon through a series of scenarios: Red Tape , Run for Resources , Restricted Operations , and Spacefaring. The Spacefaring scenario is chosen as the future scenario most ideal for humanity’s exploration of the Moon with In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) and legal and governance frameworks identified as being critical to successful realisation of this future. The role of ISRU and governance and legal frameworks in future human lunar exploration and sustainability are explored in further detail and are used to propose the concept of a Lunar Circular Economy which can be measured and monitored through six novel Metrics for Sustainability . These metrics are: material circularity, life-support energy performance, agricultural output, social cohesion, supply chain resilience, and legal and governance frameworks. To guide future work, a future research agenda is proposed that prioritises the development of the metrics and encourages input and feedback from stakeholder groups, with the eventual goal that, as part of a Lunar Circular Economy framework, the metrics could be incorporated into future legal, governance, and technical agreements between stakeholders.