Constructing Sustainable Lunar Settlements

European Perspectives on the Moon Village
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-13928-7
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 196 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Space Power and Politics

This volume analyses the multifaceted challenges and opportunities of future human habitation on the Moon.

The idea of a ‘Moon Village’, once promoted by the European Space Agency (ESA), serves as a shorthand for this ambition, and for the wider political, economic and ethical questions it raises. The book examines power, international cooperation and responsibility in space in the current return-to-the-Moon era. It contrasts Europe’s distributed approach – shared between ESA, EU and national governments – with the centralised strategies of the United States and China, and considers what this means for Europe’s capacity to act with coherence in space exploration. Drawing on policy, law and practical engineering insights, the book compares the United States and Europe in their spending, priorities and political commitment to lunar exploration. Case studies include EU space diplomacy (the European External Action Service and the EU Special Envoy for Space), Europe–Russia cooperation, and proposals for space taxation and rules for shared resources and fair access. Chapters also identify operational constraints – lunar dust, radiation, long nights and limited maintenance – and discuss 3D printing for habitat structures, robotics and low-maintenance operations, as well as power supply and storage. Bringing together space policy, legal and economic analysis with sustainable construction and engineering perspectives, the book shows how ‘building’ and ‘governance’ interact in lunar habitation.

This book will be of interest to students of space policy, sustainability, law and International Relations.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate, Professional Reference, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

van Nes, Pieter

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltpolitik, Umweltprotokoll
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Diplomatie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Kultur-, Wissenschafts- & Technologiepolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Geopolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Internationale Organisationen und Institutionen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen Nationale und Internationale Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Globalisierung
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Friedens- und Konfliktforschung
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Regierungspolitik Umwelt- und Gesundheitspolitik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction, Pieter van Nes  Part I: Strategies for Space: Economic Visions and Societal Impacts  1. Sending more Euros to the Moon, Pieter van Nes  2. The Human Side of the Moon Village, Markus Landgraf  3. Beyond the Earth: Space Societal Structures and the Legal Framework for Space Settlements, Katja Grünfeld and Jacqueline Reichhold  Part II: Governance and Interactions for Space  4. Together to Mars – Europe, Germany and Russia after the Cold War, Lise Dubois  5. Space and Diplomacy: Promoting Cooperation, Lorna Ryan  6. Evaluating Taxation Proposals for Outer Space as a Commons, Gerard Conway and Peter Jelfs  Part III: Technological Innovations in Construction and Sustainability  7. Readiness of 3D-Printed Lunar Habitats, Sung Wook Paek and Eugene Seungho Park  8. Energy Load Flexibilisation in the Building Sector – applied to Lunar Habitats, Frank Hermanns and Hartmut Schmeck  Conclusions: Europe and Sustainable Lunar Habitation, Pieter van Nes

Über Autor(innen)

Pieter van Nes is Research Fellow at the EU*Asia Institute of ESSCA School of Management, Angers, France. He has a PhD in Nuclear Physics and was formerly Head of Unit and Adviser at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium.