I know we’re all at our limit with tech ventures that the financial powerhouses of the world rapidly rally around as more foundational and beneficial resources to civilization wane. I know we don’t have enough ear space to fill with all the promises of utopian computer advancements that in practice require comical amounts of human intervention. That after all of the crypto, NFTs, AI, video pivots and pets.com collapses, the last thing we need is more gambling on speculative futurist nonsense. But hear me out: what if we fucked with the Moon.
This week, Deutsche Bank said they are fixing their attention to the ‘Moon economy.’ Earth’s lonely little celestial satellite, greeting us each night, shifting the tides and summoning werewolves. Though the grand prize of the 1960s space race, it hasn’t really taken center stage in the human imagination for generations. While we love our big floating space rock, it doesn’t have the potential or allure of Mars, our nearest understudy. The richest among us have begun to feel otherwise.
Deutsche Bank’s focus is on Intuitive Machines, a Houston-based company developing tech for lunar exploration. They’re primed for the windfall of any Moon-bound interest, and Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu says the Moon economy “may have just gone through a key inflection point.” Which is to say we’re gearing up for a nitwit-off.
Through 2025, the White House stated a renewed interest in Moon missions. Part of the Artemis program, the U.S.A. is looking to beat China to the Moon for military infrastructure and spycraft securities. That space race has kicked off a second, simultaneous one amongst billionaires. Jeff Bezos announced that Blue Origin is aiming to develop lunar landers for the program. It plays into the tension between NASA and SpaceX, whose progress on their contract has been sluggish.
Incapable of sitting still, Elon Musk, who previously wrote off the Moon as “a distraction,” said he is shifting SpaceX’s focus towards building a “self-growing city” there. It’s a screeching pivot for SpaceX, a company whose sole mission is colonizing Mars, albeit more arms-length. “We can potentially achieve that in less than 10 years, whereas Mars would take 20+ years,” Musk posted.
Obviously government contracts are a financial boon in and of itself. Much of Musk’s fortune comes from federal arrangements. But what’s the long-term economic benefit of chilling on the Moon? Nevermind establishing the first space city? As far as space campaigns go, it’s much easier to launch off a low-gravity body than fighting to escape Earth’s orbit and barrier of space junk (though new complications will surely emerge). You probably wouldn’t be surprised to hear this Moon situation links up with the current AI situation.
You’ve probably noticed AI, for all of its promises, is incredibly expensive. Consumer technology is in disarray as firms get first dibs on microchips. Data center construction is the toothpick holding up the American economy. The use of electricity and water cooling is exhaustive to local infrastructure. To set up camp on the Moon would solve… some of that. If you think that sounds risky and untested, it’s because you’re correct. Just like current AI ventures, a loose promise is enough to bet the house on.
The original space race ended on a win, something our current futurists are desperate to secure. It came through sweatbox collaborations between technicians, physicists and experts across all disciplines. It was to prove the capitalist west was greater than the USSR, develop some new rockets along the way, but still required putting that glory before short-term gains. The theme of the last decade has been ‘why we can’t have nice things.’ There are strong use cases for the blockchain, language learning models and Moon bases alike. But instead of researching and refining how this tech can secure a better future for all, we’re subjected to useless tchotchkes at the cost of breathable air. Our survival into this century is increasingly beholden to refried futurists, addicted to singular persuasive visions that don’t behave well with reality.