Infrastructure Stack · Layer 04
Logistics
Moving equipment, supplies and resources from Earth to lunar orbit, to the surface and eventually between locations on the Moon.
Why it matters
Keeping the entire system supplied.
Launch capability is advancing rapidly, and the amount of cargo headed for the lunar surface is growing with it. Getting mass to the Moon is only the first link in the chain.
Logistics is the chain of transfer, delivery, handling, storage and return that every other layer relies on. It sets the cost and cadence at which everything else can be built.
Logistics networks will keep the entire system supplied.
Inside this layer
6 building blocks
Earth-to-Moon transportation
Launch and cislunar transport at the cadence sustained operations require.
Orbital transfer
Moving cargo between orbits and staging points on the way to the surface.
Cargo delivery
Landers and payload interfaces that put increasingly large cargo on the surface.
Surface logistics
Unloading, moving and distributing cargo once it arrives.
Storage and handling
Protecting equipment, supplies and consumables from dust, radiation and temperature extremes until they are needed.
Cargo return
Bringing samples, hardware and eventually products back from the Moon.
Connect the stack
Dependencies
These aren’t isolated technologies. The opportunity lies in understanding how those systems connect.
This layer depends on
This layer enables
Questions we are watching
Open questions
- What does delivered cost per kilogram to the surface look like at real cadence, not brochure cadence?
- Which cargo and interface standards let payloads from different builders share a lander?
- Where do depots and staging points actually get built first?