Bold Names Space Trucks: One Startup’s Plan to Get the U.S. Back on the Moon
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Aug 8, 2025 Justin Cyrus, Founder and CEO of Lunar Outpost, discusses the exciting prospects of lunar exploration as one of NASA's selected companies for a lunar terrain vehicle. He highlights the potential for a bustling lunar economy, including resource mining for critical minerals. The podcast dives into the competitive landscape with Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, tackles the challenges of establishing sustainable bases on the moon, and addresses geopolitical dynamics in space exploration. Cyrus envisions Lunar Outpost as the backbone of lunar mobility in this new frontier.
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Moon Holds Unique, Valuable Deposits
- The lunar surface holds implanted resources like platinum-group metals and solar-wind volatiles such as hydrogen and helium.
- These rare deposits could enable new industries unavailable on Earth due to our magnetosphere and atmosphere.
Moon Could Be Easier Than Deep-Sea Mining
- Justin argues environmental and regulatory hurdles make deep-sea mining harder than mining a lifeless body like the moon.
- That regulatory contrast is part of the economic case for off-Earth resource development.
Rover Trapped Under Tipped Lander
- Lunar Outpost's first rover reached lunar orbit but became trapped under its lander after an off-nominal descent by the lander provider.
- The team still validated subsystems in cis-lunar space despite being unable to deploy on the surface.