E5.1 Habitation Throughout the Solar System IAC-11.E5.1.8 SPACE COLONIZATION, A STUDY OF SUPPLY AND DEMAND

This paper steps back and looks at the fundamental economics of people working (and playing) in space, and shows scenarios that should result in successful colonies on the moon. The basic premise is the ever increasing cost of industrial metals necessary to generate renewable energy for a growing world population, and the relative abundance of those same metals on the near side of the moon. There is a crossover point, relatively soon, where it is cheaper and more environmentally friendly to mine the moon instead of the increasingly poor ores remaining on earth. At that point government and industry can form a partnership much like The Railroad Act of 1862 to incentivize construction of the transportation infrastructure and lunar mining equipment. The economics say the initial mining equipment will be tele-operated from earth, but over time the requirement for human maintenance and repair seems inescapable. We foresee a government presence on the moon almost from the start of the prospector phase to enhance safety and insure law and order, and those initial bases will eventually grow into towns and colonies