Moon exploration a cause for all humanity

On Aug. 19, Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, announced that it had lost touch with Luna 25, its robotic spacecraft headed for the south pole of the moon. Luna 25 crashed into the moon’s surface during preparations to attempt a landing at the region presumed to be rich in water ice that could potentially sustain human outposts.

Only five days later, India’s Chandrayaan-3 fulfilled Luna 25’s objective and successfully touched down near the south pole of the moon, making India the fourth country to accomplish a lunar landing after the U.S., the former Soviet Union and China.

These two consecutive moon landing attempts highlight many countries’ lunar ambitions, dating all the way back to the Cold War space race between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, which culminated in human landing on the moon in 1969 by the U.S. through its Project Apollo, costing the US$25.8 billion between 1960 and 1973 (approximately equal to US$279 billion in 2023).

Today, apart from the U.S., China, Russia and India, others including Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Luxembourg and the European Space Agency have all launched their own moon landing missions and plan for further exploration of the satellite.

Moon missions may have been driven by human curiosity to further understand the universe, but governments invest heavily in lunar exploration out of more practical concern: for scientific research and strategic technology breakthroughs, geopolitical advantages, and also national prestige to boost pride among fellow countrymen while making a strong statement on the global stage.

Human space dreams don’t stop at the moon. The U.S. and China have already successfully landed rovers on Mars. There are more ambitious programs in place for Mars and even Venus. Thanks to the moon’s shorter distance to the Earth and its less challenging surface, lunar landings serve as a good starting point for further exploration of the solar system.

It takes advanced research in fundamental and applied sciences to lay the ground for feasible space pursuits. Industrial and technological sophistication is also indispensable for making the moon landing dream real. Therefore, space programs make great strategic and technological sense to governments, if they can afford them.

Apart from national efforts, the private sector, notably SpaceX and Virgin Galactic, in recent years has eagerly joined the space party. Unlike government-sponsored programs, private initiatives have to operate on a sustainable budget and aim at delivering profits as the end game.

Currently, private space industry makes money by becoming contractors of government agencies and providing services to other private organizations. Another highly coveted clientele is high-net-worth individuals who do not mind paying handsomely for a spaceflight tour around the Earth and beyond.

Private participation in lunar exploration is a great complement to government endeavors, as private organizations have to carefully balance between what is technologically achievable and what is financially sustainable. Vigorous privately-funded space initiatives indicate that the space industry is on its way to becoming a commercially viable business.

Back in the Cold War lunar race, the goal was simple: land humans on the moon and bring something back. With the mission accomplished at a staggeringly high cost, the project was subsequently shut down in due course.

The scientific hypothesis that there might be large amounts of water ice deposits on the moon is certainly an intriguing driver of lunar efforts by both public agencies and private companies in recent decades.

Sufficient water on the moon could serve as the drinking liquid to sustain life at crewed outposts. When converted into hydrogen, water could also provide fuel for further space exploration as it takes far less thrust to launch a spacecraft from the moon, which has 1/6 of the Earth’s gravity and almost no atmosphere.

Given the advancement of technology and diversification of funding sources, going to the moon and beyond is now the natural next step for human space aspiration rather than a mere trophy project.

Collective efforts across borders with collaborative integration of diverse resources can make it an easier task, which is why the U.S. needs to drop the Cold War mentality and cooperate with other space tech-savvy nations for this common cause of humanity.

(The author is an independent financial investor.)