Luxembourg at the centre of world-first lunar accelerator

A Space Resources Accelerator will be created by the Luxembourg-based European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC), after an announcement was made by the European Space Agency (ESA) at its annual conference.

Source : Merkur
Date de publication : 28/03/2024

ESRIC’s project is specifically aimed at the Moon race and supporting future frontrunners in that endeavour. It will mainly assist scale-ups with demonstrated business models and a capacity to develop applications for the emerging lunar economy. Still in its conceptualization phase, the accelerator is expected to become effective in 2025. But those behind the project have big plans. “We are building a win-win ecosystem whereby scale-ups can secure public funding while sustaining space exploration efforts resulting in innovations. This endeavour would also bring solutions to the Moon and back to Earth, thus attracting private investors,” says Alexander Godlewski, Business Accelerator Officer at ESRIC.

NASA’s Artemis Programme aims to bring astronauts back to the Moon as soon as 2026, which indicates that big advancements in the lunar economy’s development are underway. This is at least partially motivated by a financial interest. PWC and the Luxembourg Space Agency estimate that the lunar economy will have a 170bn euros cumulated market value and will create close to 2 million jobs in the next 15-20 years. Resource exploration is an important part of the space economy’s evolution, but those ventures are also expected to generate spill-over effects in material science, manufacturing, and more. The new accelerator’s goal is precisely to enable such innovations.