The great lunar land rush is gathering pace. Nasa’s plans for a permanent Moon base, the Artemis programme, have been quietly accelerated, and the UK space sector has managed to secure a key role. For those of us who follow the bottom line, this is not about romantic notions of exploration. It is about contracts, supply chains, and long-term returns on investment.
The announcement came via the UK Space Agency, which confirmed that British firms will be responsible for developing the ‘lunar communications and navigation services’ for the planned base. Think of it as the financial infrastructure of the Moon: without it, no transactions, no data, no coordination. The contract, worth an undisclosed sum but likely in the hundreds of millions, will be awarded to a consortium led by Surrey Satellite Technology and Inmarsat.
Let us cut through the celestial jargon. The Moon base, dubbed ‘Artemis Base Camp’, will initially house four astronauts for week-long stays, but the long-term plan is a permanent settlement. This is not science fiction. Nasa’s budget has been reinforced by a Congress that smells a strategic advantage. And the UK’s Foreign Office sees this as a chance to cement a post-Brexit role as a spacefaring nation.
But as a financial editor, I must ask: who is paying for this? The UK government has pledged £16 billion to the European Space Agency over the next decade, but the lion’s share of the lunar infrastructure will be funded by American taxpayers. The market response has been muted: the FTSE 100 barely budged, but smaller space-related stocks like Avanti Communications and Babcock International saw modest gains. The real money, as always, will flow to the suppliers of niche components: radiation-hardened electronics, life-support systems, and launch services.
The inflationary implications are worth noting. Every billion pounds spent on space is a billion not spent on hospitals or roads. But the Treasury sees it as an investment in ‘high-tech exports’. The UK already commands 5% of the global space economy, and this lunar contract could boost that share. However, capital flight remains a concern: if the moon base becomes a reality, investors may start looking beyond Earth’s atmosphere for yield.
I remain sceptical of government megaprojects. The history of public-private space ventures is littered with cost overruns. The International Space Station costs £3 billion a year to maintain. A lunar base will dwarf that. But the market is voting with its feet. The global space industry is now worth over £300 billion, and the Moon is the next frontier. For now, the UK’s space sector has a ticket to ride. Shareholders should watch the burn rate closely.
