In 10 years the Moon will be a completely different place. Are we ready for this?

The first space logistics company in history will start organizing expeditions to the Moon in February. Anyone from the public or private sector will be able to build buildings on the Moon. It seems fantastic, but these expeditions could cause permanent problems on the Moon, which is vital for life on Earth.

Turkey, which established the Space Agency in 2018, tested its first domestic microsatellite launch missile last year, and whose satellite development technology is rapidly developing, also sent its first astronaut into space.

At a time when space studies are becoming accessible and widespread, these steps provide hope for the future. The world is experiencing a 'New Space' era. What left its mark on this period was the transformation of space studies from being an expensive toy of a handful of states into a space economy. Private sector organizations are rapidly maturing projects in many areas, from launch vehicles to space vehicles and robots, from space tourism to space mining. For example, a private company will launch payload flights to the Moon in February. It seems fantastic, but American journalist Rebecca Boyle advises approaching this development with caution. We quote sections from Boyle's article published in the New York Times:

“Standing alone in space, the Moon is unique in the known universe: a solitary piece of rock one-quarter the size of the Earth, it is the only place where living things have ever set foot. In this desolate, sun-scorched and crater-filled wasteland, there is little to be found except what we have brought to it in our spaceships. But this is about to change.

The first loads are loaded onto the missile
In the coming weeks, a rocket is expected to launch from the Earth's atmosphere and send a spacecraft called Nova-C towards the south pole of the Moon. If all goes as planned, Nova-C, built by Intuitive Machines, a private company, under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, will land on the Moon in about seven days and carry a payload of scientific instruments.

There will also be a collection of narratives stored on microdiscs, several cameras, and a series of small sculptures by artist Jeff Koons that will be placed inside a cube and remain on the Moon indefinitely.

The launch, expected to take place in February, will take place right after another company's unsuccessful Moon landing attempt. Peregrine, built by Astrobotic Technology under another NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services contract, successfully launched into space on January 8, but its mission was interrupted due to a fuel leak. This isn't the first private mission to land on the Moon, but Nova-C could be successful; So are the ones after him and many more...

Although such a picture seems attractive in terms of humanity's cosmic goals, it also heralds a worrying future in which the Moon will be irreversibly transformed and become the home of uncontrolled earthly enterprises...

Brands visible from Earth could be placed on the Moon
Humans have not been to the Moon since the end of the Apollo program in 1972, and robots only occasionally reach the Moon through expensive, government-funded efforts that often fail. But what's likely to happen in February is new.
For the first time, the Moon will be occupied by private capital, including small ventures launching landers and capsules whose aims extend beyond science and exploration. These missions are subsidized by other space agencies seeking to reach the Moon and largely through NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land the first female astronaut on the Moon by 2026.

The Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, which is part of Artemis, encourages private companies to build landers and even rovers that NASA can pay to use, as opposed to the traditional NASA-built equipment approach. This means that although they currently only carry government-sponsored science experiment payloads, the new privately built and commercially financed landers will also offer the possibility of carrying non-scientific payloads belonging to other customers.

Microbes may invade the moon
The freedom to choose any load can lead to controversy. Nova-C will use thermal reflective coatings designed by sportswear brand Columbia. The failed Peregrine lander was carrying a small amount of cremated human remains. In 2019, an Israeli landing vehicle carried microscopic creatures that can survive in space. It is unknown what happened to these creatures when the lander crashed, but this attempt raised new concerns about taking biological material to the Moon.

This new era of lunar missions will likely change humanity's relationship with the Moon. Before that happens, we owe ourselves a more careful consideration of what our planet's only natural satellite represents. Whatever we do to it will last forever. We have an enormous responsibility towards the future of the Moon and the future of the people living next to it.

The Moon has a great influence on life
The Moon moderates the Earth's axis, protecting our planet from climate chaos. It supported the evolution of complex life. Thanks to its tides, the moon pulled vertebrate animals onto land. Early humans used it to mark time, create calendars, and establish early civilizations. We then used it to consolidate power, develop religion, and invent philosophy and science.

Within a decade, if you have a powerful enough telescope, you may see evidence of human construction and even habitation on the Moon. In May 2023, American international financial auditing and consulting firm PwC estimated that the global space industry is worth $469 billion and will exceed $1 trillion by 2030. As a matter of fact, countries and companies are increasingly using satellites for production, energy production and data collection. According to NASA's estimates, spending on Moon exploration programs will bring economic output of more than $20 billion across the United States in 2022. The agency has awarded contracts totaling billions of dollars to private companies, including giants like Lockheed Martin, billionaire-backed new players like SpaceX and Blue Origin, lander makers like Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, and smaller startups like nuclear energy research firm Zeno Power. PwC's report said, "We are at a turning point where ideas that previously remained in the pages of science fiction represent attractive investment initiatives."

Space logistics and supply chain are established
Some of these ventures will provide landing services for space agencies, universities or private research firms, while others will help provide electricity, navigation or mission planning services for other lunar missions, seeding a self-sustaining lunar economy.

India's space agency safely landed a new rover on the Moon in August, becoming the fourth country to do so. On Friday, after repeated failed attempts, Japan became the fifth country to safely land a spacecraft on the Moon.

But space is still difficult, as the recent failures of Russia and the Israeli company SpaceIl to land on the Moon show. Launching a rocket from Earth is one thing, going to the Moon is another.

NASA officials have been trying to create a more collaborative path for lunar travel since 2020 through the agency's Artemis Accords. A non-binding framework that confirms the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and asks signatories to improve cooperation between nations by agreeing on international standards for equipment, assisting each other in emergencies, sharing scientific data, and protecting the Apollo landing sites.

The moon hosts neither roaring storms, nor crashing waves, nor bird sounds, nor marches. We must be its voice. We will soon change its surface and our relationship with it forever. We owe it to the Moon to at least discuss why and how to do this.