Lunar Launch Capability Part 2: Lunar Raw Materials for an Orbital Jig-factory Supplied by a Spin-launch System and Solar Electric Transfer From Lunar Orbit

MICHEL LAMONTAGNE, RICHARD SOILLEUX & SYLVESTER KACZMAREK

2026.79.0351

DOI https://doi.org/10.59332/jbis-079-09-0351

A lunar mining and manufacturing base supporting large scale construction in high Earth orbit is described based on making alloyed steel from regolith. Conveniently, the main by-products of this single process are vitrified silicates (slag) for radiation shielding in orbit and oxygen for rocket propellant as well as for habitat atmospheres and agriculture. Many of the usual alloying elements for high-strength steel are scarce on the Moon and new alloys, possibly ferrotitanium, must be developed for pressure hulls. (Ti60Fe40 is proposed here, as it is lighter and has similar mechanical properties to the maraging steel chosen for Avalon). A model production system for making one Avalon orbital habitat every ten years has been developed although actual production rates will vary enormously as the population in space grows. The model’s demand for alloyed steel, regolith and oxygen is set at 6,000,000 t/yr, satisfied by 60 small (100,000 t/yr) process plants spaced at ~180 km intervals around the Moon‘s equator. Spin-launch systems co-located with the plants will launch alloy steel drums filled with sintered glass or oxygen to supply the orbital factories with raw materials or propellant, respectively. Solar arrays adjacent to the process plant sites will power a local DC electrical distribution grid. Continuous power will require an equatorial HVDC energy transportation loop to transfer power from the local grids to the nightside process plants. The continuous coordination of 60 geographically dispersed process plants, a 11,000 km high-voltage grid, and high-frequency launch systems require a high degree of autonomy. The chosen architecture employs a deterministic, tiered automated supervisory control strategy to ensure safety and throughput in the absence of real-time human oversight..

Keywords: BIS Orbital Settlement Project, Lunar Regolith, Orbital Development, Lunar Spin-launch