This year will mark a turning point in humanity’s relationship with the Moon, as we begin to lay the groundwork for a permanent presence on its surface, paving the way for our natural satellite to become an industrial hub, one that will take us to Mars and beyond.
Developing a lunar economy comes down to three critical elements: the ability to get there, the means to refuel for the return trip, and profitable businesses operating on the lunar surface. And, in 2025, technologies in all three areas will finally begin to take tangible form.
For nearly a decade, the titans of private space exploration (SpaceX and Blue Origin) have been locked in a race to reach the Moon. SpaceX’s latest rocket, Starship, is critical to this effort. At almost twice the height (121 meters versus 70 meters) and three times the width (9 meters versus 3.7 meters) of its predecessor, Falcon 9, Starship certainly has the size, but it is also designed to change our shape. to think about space. travel. Unlike traditional rockets, which are used once and then discarded, Starship can be reused for multiple flights and even refueled while in orbit. Its higher power means it can deliver around 100 metric tons of payload to the Moon in a single trip, which is roughly equivalent to all the payloads sent to the Moon in history combined, but in one go.
Traditional rockets can only launch approximately 0.1 percent of its total takeoff weight to the moon, but Starship, with its refueling capability, can deliver about 2 percent. Picture this: If a traditional rocket were a moving truck, it would be like using an 18-wheeler to deliver a suitcase. With Starship, the cost per ton of payload delivered to the lunar surface plummets, making lunar missions more affordable.
Blue Origin is not far behind Blue Moon lander. While it may be smaller than Starship, with a capacity of nearly 3 metric tons, Blue Moon is designed to deliver heavy equipment and infrastructure, the tools that will turn the moon from a barren outpost into a thriving industrial base. Together, these vehicles are laying the foundation for a nascent lunar economy.
In 2025, SpaceX plans to demonstrate Starship’s full set of capabilities, including its ability to refuel in orbit and be reused, dramatically reducing the costs of lunar transportation and making the moon more accessible than ever. This is part of an ongoing series of orbital flight tests, which began in 2023 and continued through 2024, and will do so in 2025.