Drawing on hard-won lessons from Antarctic research stations and frontier mining towns, panelists will examine how governance must evolve at each stage, from mission-style leadership reliant on Earth, to role specialization and local decision-making, to fully autonomous towns with their own institutions.

Donna Roberts leads the a conversation featuring Kelly Weinersmith (bestselling author of A City on Mars), Dr. Jay Buckey of Dartmouth, and Barbara Belvisi of Interstellar Labs for an honest look at the technological, economic, infrastructure, and policy considerations to to build a permanent human presence on the Red Planet. It’ll be a conversation that was worth the wait.

Once viewed primarily through the lens of exploration, cislunar space is now becoming a platform for sustained commercial activity, scientific innovation, and international competition. Panelists will discuss emerging market opportunities, infrastructure needs, investment and risk-sharing models, and the role of policy and international norms in enabling sustainable growth.

We invite you to join the Beyond Earth Working Group Report Webinar Series to spotlight and unpack the 2025-2026 Working Group papers. Each session will feature the experts behind this work and offer a focused deep dive into the ideas shaping the future of space development.

The Beyond Earth Institute hold it's Annual Meeting on February 25, 2026 from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM at the American University Washington College of [...]

This panel discussion brings together leading experts in space technology, resource extraction, and energy policy to delve into the compelling, yet complex, prospect of mining Helium-3 on the Moon. With growing global energy demands and the pursuit of cleaner, safer energy sources, the potential of lunar Helium-3 as a fusion fuel has reignited interest in lunar resource utilization. This session will explore the scientific basis for Helium-3’s potential, the technological hurdles to overcome mining lunar Helium-3, and the economic viability of such an endeavor.