DARPA lunar programs

Recognizing the rapid lunar exploration, DARPA envisions a thriving cislunar and lunar economy of scientific research and commercial development over the next decade. It has launched two programs to address the need for shareable, scalable commercial systems essential to a robust lunar economy.

Lunar Guidelines for Infrastructure Consortium (LOGIC)
LOGIC intends to bring industry, academia, and government together to identify critical lunar infrastructure interoperability and interface needs for commercial lunar infrastructure.

In October 2023, the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) was selected to administer LOGIC as a permanent, self-sustaining, and independent forum for collaboration.

10-Year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10)
Announced in August 2023, LunA-10 will conduct a seven-month capability study to create core technology concepts toward a series set of adaptable, expandable systems that can work together and be shared, “minimizing lunar footprint and creating monetizable services for future lunar users.” The study is tailored to capabilities for commercial and economic uses, and will not be for military applications.

The LunA-10 study’s focus areas are based on key sectors identified in a report titled “Lunar market assessment: market trends and challenges in the development of a lunar economy” by PwC Australia in September 2021. Transit/mobility, energy, and communications are the three areas LunA-10 sees as forming the foundation of any other lunar industries. Industries that may integrate technologies into the LunA-10 infrastructure include construction, mining, medicine, sciences, communications, etc. In December 2023, 14 companies were funded to complete the study by June 2024 about the necessary infrastructure and capabilities required to develop a moon-based economy over the next ten years. For example, aerospace company Northrop Grumman will provide a conceptual study of a “lunar railroad” network for commercial ventures.

NASA has been working on a detailed architecture for lunar and Martian exploration. DARPA has coordinated with NASA to make LunA-10 complementary to NASA architecture studies.

An update on the program occurred in April 2024. With industry participants providing insight on how a lunar economy could be operationalized. Many proposals relied on the viability of in-situ resource utilization and low enough launch costs.