May 16th, 2024 | beyondearth

Last week, BE EVP Courtney Stadd and I participated in an invitation-only meeting at the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA) organized by its Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) that advises the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss our future in Cislunar space. While attendees were bound by the Chatham House Rule (not to share who was there or what was discussed), I will say that this event clearly indicates that Cislunar development is gaining prominence on the space policy landscape.

Courtney’s and my participation at the IDA event also demonstrate that Beyond Earth is firmly established in Cislunar policy discussion. This should not be a surprise as BE has built a track record on this important topic:

• BE has produced two papers on the emerging Cislunar Economy, one in 2022 and one just released this month.
• BE has held many forums on aspects of Cislunar economy, both webinars at the Beyond Earth Symposiums
• BE co-chaired a working group of the AIAA Cislunar Ecosystem Task Force
• BE participated in a DARPA workshop on DARPA’s Luna10 initiative, and will be submitting a paper for the workshop's final report
• BE’s Cislunar Economy Working Group within the BE Leadership Council is in its second year and includes such stakeholder organizations as Draper Laboratory, ULA, Blue Origin, Paragon Space, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, OffWorld, and Near Earth, LLC. To find out more about the Leadership Council, click here.

BE is attempting to break through the collective hand-wringing that’s going on over the threat of China’s Lunar intentions. By comparison, America’s anemic Moon to Mars program is technically and budgetarily challenged. The picture is more encouraging on the commercial side, although without strong strategic leadership on Cislunar development, private companies will have a much more difficult road ahead.

I contend that the policy discussions and technology development on Cislunar infrastructure need a singular focal point: a full-scale multi-purpose operational facility on the Moon—not a NASA Moonbase (God, no). For the U.S. and its allies to lead in the new Moon race, we must quickly reach a consensus on our first public/private lunar outpost. This alone will sharpen the attention of all stakeholders and energize emerging markets.

If you’d like to be part of this BE discussion on Cislunar development and other critical topics, I’d love to hear from you.

If you’re coming to NSS ISDC next week in Los Angeles, I’ll see you there. I will be speaking in the opening plenary on the topic of “Shaping Public Policy to Enable Human Communities Beyond Earth.”

I will also see you at the next BE webinar and the Beyond Earth Symposium 2024 on November 12-13 in Washington, DC!

Steve Wolfe is the President & Co-Founder of Beyond Earth Institute. Read more about Steve’s background and role at BE here.