Three Steps to a Moon Base

Space agencies and private companies are working on rockets, landers, and other tech for lunar settlement

3 min read
Illustration of moon landers and rockets.
Illustration: James Provost

In 1968, NASA astronaut Jim Lovell gazed out of a porthole from lunar orbit and remarked on the “vast loneliness” of the moon. It may not be lonely place for much longer. Today, a new rush of enthusiasm for lunar exploration has swept up government space agencies, commercial space companies funded by billionaires, and startups that want in on the action. Here’s the tech they’re building that may enable humanity’s return to the moon, and the building of the first permanent moon base.

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