How do you even go about building on the moon?
The cost of developing anything like lunar infrastructure is prohibitively expensive – but there is a solution.
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Hello, and welcome to this week’s edition of The View from Space.
🌙 In SpaceNews, FibreCoat CEO Dr Robert Brüll sets out the challenges that anyone who seeks to build on the moon will encounter – namely, the cost. But there is a solution:
‘Materials mean mass; mass means cost. It’s simply too expensive, by any estimate, to treat space rockets and lunar modules as glorified ships and trucks. The materials must therefore already be on the moon. If we can find a way to make moon materials reliable enough to build with, then one huge obstacle to colonising our nearest celestial body can be overcome.
Some work on this front is already being done, such as the European Space Agency’s initiative to develop in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU), which means using materials already available on the moon rather than transporting everything from Earth. Although this fine lunar dust is weak and unsuitable for building in its raw form, it can be processed in several ways to transform its mechanical properties.
If processed into a fibre, for example, lunar regolith becomes more than 20 times stronger than the next-strongest sintered or melted regolith product. In fibre form, it combines high tensile strength with flexibility and large surface area. That means it could reinforce load-bearing structures for landing pads, roads and shelters, while also functioning as a textile for dust mitigation, filtration and insulation. The same material can contribute to micrometeorite shielding and even serve as a growth substrate for food production. This points to a versatile structural and functional material platform for sustained lunar infrastructure.’
🛰️ In Global Reinsurance, AXA Digital Commercial Platform CEO Pierre du Rostu and Planet’s Berend de Jong argued that ‘space is transforming insurance’ by giving insurers the kinds of near-realtime insights that allow them to respond more quickly and intelligently in the event of a natural disaster:
‘Claims from natural disasters are rising in frequency and cost. This has created a protection gap: in many places, expected losses now exceed what insurers can affordably price.
Some insurers may feel powerless. Those that follow the traditional model, which involves using historical data to predict the future, are finding that this no longer works. Yesterday has become a poor guide to tomorrow. But Earth Observation changes things. Satellites in rapidly growing numbers circle our world every day, capturing terabytes of imagery that can then be crunched and turned into usable insights. …
Armed with precise information about an unfolding flood, for example, insurers can respond at a speed and with a level of understanding that is unprecedented. Aided by AI analysis, Earth Observation and ground data can allow insurers to identify patterns to address a catastrophic event before it takes place.’
🤝 Satellite operator SES has ordered 28 satellites from K2 Space, SpaceNews reports:
‘The Luxembourg-based operator said the satellites would deliver high-speed broadband, support optical intersatellite links for data relay and enable hosted payloads across commercial and government missions.
The network would support up to 1 gigabit per second Ka-band broadband for flat-panel antennas as small as 25 by 25 centimeters and up to 4 Gbps using parabolic antennas for high-capacity connections, alongside optical links of up to 100 Gbps to relay traffic between satellites and emerging infrastructure such as space stations and orbital data centers.
“Space is the invisible backbone of the global data economy and national security,” SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said in a March 24 news release that was light on finer details.
“Together with K2 Space and other space partners, we’re building meoSphere as essential infrastructure — constructed faster, designed to handle massive data demands globally, and built to support the secure, resilient sovereign networks that our global government allies depend on.”
🍷 A Bordeaux estate has turned to space technology to monitor vines and, ultimately, produce better wine, reports The Drinks Business:
‘Kuva Space, founded in 2016, is among the companies developing this technology. Château Puybarbe is now serving as the first operational pilot site, with the current growing season focused on gathering data, identifying anomalies, and analysing how satellite imagery correlates with vine health.
The project centres on hyperspectral imaging, which captures hundreds of spectral bands to reveal subtle biochemical and structural changes in plants. Unlike standard monitoring methods, this data can identify early signs of vine stress linked to fungal pressure, insect activity, moisture shifts, or nutrient imbalances.
The long-term aim is to translate this data into practical tools for vineyard teams. For the estate, the technology aligns with organic principles and the need to adapt to increasingly unpredictable growing conditions.’
🩸 The Guardian reports that UK defence firms are ‘bleeding cash’:
‘Defence manufacturers are going bust while others have been left in “paralysis” and “bleeding cash” as they wait for a long-delayed UK military spending plan for the next decade, MPs have heard.
Industry groups said a more than six-month delay to the defence investment plan (DIP) had also left the UK behind Germany and the US in attracting cash from global investors.
“The ecosystem is not in a great place, it’s what I would call paralysis,” said Samira Braund, the defence director of the ADS Group trade body, speaking to the defence select committee on Tuesday. “I don’t think that [the government] have put effective mitigation plans in place at all.”’
🇦🇹 Austria is developing a ‘small but mighty’ space ecosystem, Payload Space reports:
‘Austria has a lot going for it: choice educational institutions, an amazing quality of life, and a socioeconomic landscape that supports early-stage ventures.
“It’s a small country, yes, but it has quite a strong public funding ecosystem—I think one of the best in Europe,” said Maya Pindeus, cofounder of Another Earth, a Vienna-based startup building a simulated Earth model based on EO data. “It’s definitely one of the best with non-dilutive funding.”
For early-stage space companies in Austria, there’s no shortage of publicly funded assistance and facilities to get off the ground. Companies have an abundance of resources to grow and demonstrate early technological wins through Phi-Lab, accelerators like accent Inkubator, and research facilities at academic institutions..
Lilly Eichinger, CEO of Satellives—a startup aiming to become Austria’s first satellite manufacturer—told Payload that these programs have opened access to low-cost testing facilities. She added that CNC machining capabilities even helped the company develop its first prototype, expected to be completed in 2027.’
📸 And the ISS has captured footage of Russian missiles striking Kyiv: