Lunar Manufacturing Capability To Be Advanced By Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DARPA (Budget ~US3.5B) To Host Proposers Day Webcast 26 February, 13:00-16:00 (EST), Orienting Potential Applicants In Anticipation Of Broad Agency Announcement On Novel Orbital And Moon Manufacturing, Materials And Mass-Efficient Design Program; Initiative Seeks To Apply DARPA (Formerly ARPA, Founded In Response To Sputnik-1) Ethos Of “Explicitly Reaching For Transformational Change” To Lunar Surface And In-Space Construction; Three 18-Month Phases Will Focus On 1-MW Solar Array Materials / Design Proof Of Concept (Phase 1); 100m-Diameter RF Reflector (Phase 2); Long-Wave Infrared Telescope (Phase 3)
Credits: DARPA, Pictured: Acting Director Peter Highnam (L), Defense Sciences Office Program Manager Bill Carter (R)
Chang’e-5 / Phase 3 Of CLEP Achieves Successful Transport Of 2kg Surface Regolith + 0.5kg Subsurface (1.8m Depth) From Oceanus Procellarum To Inner Mongolia Via High Speed Skip Retry; Recovered From Remote Tundra By Team Outfitted With 4kg Exoskeleton Suits, Providing 10% Strength Assist, And Joined By Curious Rabbit; First Samples Procured Since 170g From Luna 24 To Be Followed By Commercial / National Robotic And Human Efforts; International Collaboration On Analysis Invited, Chang’e-6/7/8 And Phase 4 Lunar Research Base Build-Out To Commence, Per Deputy Commander Wu Yanhua
Thought Leaders At Center For Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, King’s College London And Missouri University Of Science & Technology 
Moon Exploration Company ispace, Fueled By US$125M+ Funding, Opens Location In Denver CO; 1st Generation Lander Hakuto-R Set For 2022 / 2023 Missions Has ~30-kg Payload Capacity, Design Of New Heavier Class Lander Meeting CLPS / Artemis Requirements To Be Overseen By USA Lander Program Director Kursten O’Neill (L) And CEO Kyle Acierno (R), Production To Be Contracted To General Atomics; ispace Has Grand Vision Of “One Earth-Moon Ecosystem” Actualized Through Mission Sequence In Which “Swarms Of Rovers” Facilitate Human Activity On Lunar Surface
Part Of US$370M+ NASA Tipping Point Awards Announced By Administrator Bridenstine At LSIC 14 Oct, Nokia Of North America (Subsidiary Of Finland Parent Company) Granted $14.1M To Build Cis-Lunar LTE Network, A Highly Vital Component Of Artemis 2024 Human Moon Landing Plan And 2028 Moon Base Establishment; Nokia Had Planned To Launch Lunar Network In Conjunction With Vodafone, Audi And PT Scientists In 2018; Bridenstine Boldly Proclaims New Infrastructure Will Empower “Biggest, Broadest, Most Diverse Inclusive Coalition Of Researchers And Explorers In The History Of Humankind”
New Agreement Signed Sep 21 Supersedes Prior MoU Between USAF / NASA; Document Notes Realm Of USA Space Activity In Process Of Expansion From Geostationary (35,785 km) To Cis-Lunar (437,741 km), Increasing ‘Space Domain Awareness’ Mandate 1000x; Rationale For Cooperation Based On Mutual Planetary Defense Objectives Such As Meeting Goal Of Detection / Characterization Of 90% Of All NEOs <8,046,720 km From Earth By End Of 2020 Through e.g. Shared Use Of USSF Space Surveillance Telescope; Areas Of Cooperation Identified Include Communications, Navigation, Manufacture, Logistics, Recruitment, Launch Support, Search / Rescue
NASA Advisory Council Technology, Innovation, And Engineering Committee At Sep 1 Meeting Signals Intention To Issue Request By Early Oct For Proposal To Build 10-Kilowatt Fission Reactor, 
A Lunar Vehicle Capable Of Both Autonomous And Crewed Function, Powered By Hybrid Hydrogen Fuel Cells / Solar Panel, Receives Nickname Homage To Venerable ‘Land Cruiser’ Line Of Off-Road Vehicles Said To Ensure Occupants ‘Come Back Alive’; The 6-wheeled, 6-meter Long Vessel Is To Contain 42.67 Meter2 Pressurized Crew Cabin And Have Range Of ~10,000-km, About The Circumference Of The Moon; Lunar Cruiser Considered Focal Point For Team Japan Study Meeting, A 100+ Strong Association Of Japan Enterprises With Goal Of Lunar Society Actualization
