Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Resource scouting by the Oasis-1 spacecraft in lunar orbit.
Image credit: Blue Origin

Earth’s resource-rich Moon is overdue for detailed high-resolution maps to chart the whereabouts and concentrations of lunar water ice, Helium-3, radionuclides, rare earth elements, precious metals, and other materials.

And that’s what a new undertaking may provide.

Project Oasis is being developed jointly by Blue Origin’s Space Resources Center of Excellence and the company’s international office in Luxembourg.

GOMSpace and the European Space Resources Innovation Center (ESRIC) in Luxembourg are also supporting the project.

Founded in 2007, GomSpace is a global provider of small satellite solutions with customers in more than 60 countries.

Artwork depicts moon mining operations for Helium-3 involving harvesters, solar power plant, rover, and return launchers.
Image credit: Interlune

Multi-phase initiative

Project Oasis is a multi-phase initiative to identify key lunar resources from orbit, assess them on the ground, and harness them on-the-spot.

“Once we know what’s really there and how to access it, everything changes,” said Pat Remias, vice president of Blue Origin’s Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering.

“Project Oasis creates the foundation for a thriving space economy,” Remias added, in a company statement.

Once demonstrated and implemented on the Moon, Blue Alchemist will put unlimited solar power wherever needed.
Image credit: Blue Origin

Here’s the plan

Oasis-1would be the first mission in the Oasis “campaign.”

Oasis-1 would carry out resource prospecting of the Moon, teamed up with Blue Origin’s Blue Alchemist, an effort to process regolith into useful products like oxygen, solar cells, and power cables.

Project Oasis would employ neutron spectroscopy to quantify subsurface water ice concentrations to one-meter depths.

The ultra-low orbital altitude by an Oasis orbiter would make use of additional instruments include magnetometers for metal detection and multispectral imaging for Helium-3 and geological mapping.

Earth’s Moon seen from the International Space Station – ready for mining or not?
Image credit: NASA

Here’s the goal

The goal as stated by Blue Origin is to crank out propellant and construction materials from lunar resources, aiming to (1) reduce deep-space mission costs by up to 90% through in-space refueling, (2) enable permanent lunar settlements with locally sourced building materials, (3) establish strategic resource security for national space capabilities, and (4) provide a platform for international collaboration to unlock the vast potential of space resources.

These efforts “seek to transform the Moon into a resource and power hub, lowering costs and complexity for missions to Mars and beyond, making asteroid harnessing viable in the future, and enabling greater sustainability on Earth,” explains a Blue Origin statement.

Missing from the September 30^th statement from Blue Origin are implementation dates and costs associated with the venture.