With the launch and successful return of the Artemis 1 mission, we usher in the start of a new era of Lunar exploration. Though there are clearly common threads with the Apollo missions, the Artemis programme is driven by varying motivations to the original lunar programme.

China: One similarity to the Apollo programme is that NASA & the US are in something of a space capability race with other nations. China has made clear its vision and roadmap for space exploration & utilization. Starting with their own space station (Tiangong), performing a manned moon mission by 2030 & a manned mars mission in 2033. The US does not want to find itself lacking in capability & access to space. With that said, it is also clear that the conflict here is “softer” in this instance than it was in the 60s & 70s, at the time of the space race with the Soviet Union.

Interestingly, China & the US both have identified similar and in some cases overlapping landing locations for their lunar programmes. It is yet to be seen how diplomacy and fair utilization of lunar resources between multiple nations will evolve.

Sustained presence: Unlike the Apollo programme, the intention of the Artemis missions, is to create and deliver the infrastructure required for sustainable manned presence on the moon, and in lunar orbit. This time, lunar exploration will be measured in weeks and months, not days. NASA has carefully chosen the location of the upcoming missions to support this aim. The targeted landing zone of the lunar south pole was selected because of Lunar ice, that may still be frozen in large quantities in craters that provide perpetual shade from the sun. Lunar ice could be used as propulsion for deep space missions, and to support long term human existence on the lunar surface.

Updated science and instrumentation: in the 50 years since the end of the Apollo programme, the equipment available for science has vastly improved with the advent of the digital age. Science conducted on the lunar surface today will benefit from these new systems providing greater insight and accuracy for science and research.

The first science conducted as part of the Artemis programme seeks to better understand the effects of long-term exposure on humans of the deep space environment. Artemis 1 has deployed a number of CubeSats, some of which are focused on measuring radiation & its effects on yeast to understand long term effects of deep-space radiation. Other cubesats deployed from Artemis 1 will provide insight into space weather, magnetic fields and will survey the lunar surface.

Commercialisation: Nasa has turned to venture backed start-up SpaceX for the Lunar Human Landing System (Starship HLS). This will be a modified Starship, designed specifically for lunar landings. This is a demonstration of the capability that (relatively) new entrants to the space domain have been capable of developing.

The Artemis programme has spurred on a host of start-ups that plan to fly to the moon. Plans for business providing power distribution, high speed communications, lunar landers, lunar rovers, and mining/utilization of lunar resources have proliferated in recent years. While it may be some time before we see a full bustling and self-sustaining lunar ecosystem, NASA and the Artemis programme are creating the initial demand that will seed this industry, and will ultimately build the first generation of lunar businesses.