Infrastructure Stack · Layer 07
Resources & ISRU
Using lunar resources for construction, shielding, oxygen, water and eventually propellant and manufacturing.
Why it matters
Living off the land.
Water ice in permanently shadowed polar craters, oxygen bound in regolith and building material underfoot are the difference between a supplied outpost and an economy. In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) turns local material into water, breathable air, shielding and eventually propellant.
Resources are the layer with the longest timeline and the largest payoff, and the one most dependent on everything else working first.
Resource companies will eventually begin using materials already present on the Moon.
Inside this layer
6 building blocks
Resource mapping
Finding and characterizing water, oxygen-bearing minerals and other usable material.
Water and oxygen extraction
Recovering water ice and oxygen for life support and, eventually, propellant.
Regolith utilization
Turning lunar soil into something useful instead of something to fight.
Construction materials
Building stock, shielding and structures made from what is already on the Moon.
Surface preparation
Grading, excavation and stabilization of ground for pads, roads and sites.
Future propellant production
Producing propellant on the Moon, one of the largest long-term opportunities in the lunar economy.
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
- How much water is really accessible, and at what energy cost per kilogram?
- Which comes first, propellant from the Moon or a customer who will buy it there?
- What legal and standards framework governs extraction and ownership?