The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched a study about the feasibility and process to launch (heh) a commercial economy on the moon. Called LunA-10, the study "uniquely aims to identify solutions that can enable multi-mission lunar systems – imagine a wireless power station that can also provide comms and navigation in its beam."
From Gizmodo:
Luna-10 will select a group of companies that have an idea for lunar services, allowing them to work together to develop an integrated system for lunar communication, energy, transmission or other building blocks necessary to create a future economy on the Moon. The participating companies will be announced in October 2023, with the final report due by June 2024.
DARPA, however, will not fund the construction or transportation of any of the concepts developed as part of the study. Instead, the agency will provide its "economic expertise to all LunA-10 teams to help analyze and validate definitions of a critical mass to create a thriving, survivable lunar economy," DARPA wrote in its statement[…]
In its statement, DARPA highlights that LunA-10 is grounded in the Outer Space Treaty established in 1967 and that "all developments and involvement by civilian and/or military personnel in this effort pertain to scientific and peaceful purposes."
