249R_Space colonization: A study of supply and demand (research summary)

What is The Future for Cities?

Are you interested in space colonisation?

Summary of the article titled Space colonization: A study of supply and demand from 2011 by Dr. Dana Andrews, Gordon R. Woodcock, and Brian Bloudek, presented at the 62nd International Astronautical Congress.

This is a great preparation to our next panel conversation with Dr Anders Sandberg, Xavier de Kestelier, and Thomas Gooch in episode 250 talking about space cities and their different aspects.

Since we are investigating the future of cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how space colonization and thus space cities can be approached from the supply and demand perspective. This article looks at the fundamental economics of people working (and playing) in space, and shows scenarios that should result in successful colonies on the moon.

As the most important things, I would like to highlight 3 aspects:

1. The development of lunar colonies is a natural progression, beginning with tele-operated mining and evolving into human presence as the need for maintenance and oversight grows.
2. Lunar mining offers a solution to Earth's dwindling metal resources, with the Moon's vast reserves becoming economically viable as terrestrial supplies run low.
3. Achieving affordable space access through reusable launch systems and infrastructure like Tether Upper Stages (TUS) and Space Operations Centers (SOC) is crucial for successful lunar operations.

You can find the article through this link.

Abstract: This paper steps back and looks at the fundamental economics of people working (and playing) in space, and shows scenarios that should result in successful colonies on the moon. The basic premise is the ever increasing cost of industrial metals necessary to generate renewable energy for a growing world population, and the relative abundance of those same metals on the near side of the moon. There is a crossover point, relatively soon, where it is cheaper and more environmentally friendly to mine the moon instead of the increasingly poor ores remaining on earth. At that point government and industry can form a partnership much like The Railroad Act of 1862 to incentivise construction of the transportation infrastructure and lunar mining equipment. The economics say the initial mining equipment will be tele-operated from earth, but over time the requirement for human maintenance and repair seems inescapable. We foresee a government presence on the moon almost from the start of the prospector phase to enhance safety and insure law and order, and those initial bases will eventually grow into towns and colonies.

Connecting episodes you might be interested in:

• No.214 - Interview with Anders Sandberg about space colonisation
• No.233R - Platinum group metals extraction from asteroids vs Earth
• No.234 - Interview with Tenzin Crouch about space robotics

You can find the transcript through ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What wast the most interesting part for you? What questions did arise for you? Let me know on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@WTF4Cities⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or on the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wtf4cities.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ website where the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠showno⁠t⁠es⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠are also available.

I hope this was an interesting episode for you and thanks for tuning in.

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