Open Lunarians,

 

This past month, Artemis II sent humans back around the Moon for the first time in over fifty years.

 

It’s hard not to feel something watching that. As Board Chair Chris Hadfield put it, missions like this are a “strong, undeniable public example of something positive.” They remind us what’s possible when things work, and when people, systems, and ambition line up.

 

They also remind us how hard this is. From launch to landing, and especially a brief moment during reentry, a lot of us were watching closely, holding our breath.

The next decade promises more than just a return to the lunar surface, as it marks the beginning of operating there. More missions, more actors, more activity, all on a much faster timeline than even a few years ago.

 

This update shares where that shift is already taking shape: new partnerships, progress across our core projects, and perspectives on what it will take to navigate the next phase of lunar activity. Please enjoy.

 

 

At NASA's Ignition event on March 24, 2026, Administrator Jared Isaacman outlined a more accelerated and surface-oriented approach to lunar exploration — including a push toward returning astronauts to the surface by 2028, increasing mission cadence, expanding the role of commercial systems, and beginning the first elements of a long-term Moon Base. 

Open Lunar board member William Pomerantz helps interpret what these changes mean — and what to watch next.

 

 

The Moon doesn't have a government, a court system, or an eviction notice. So when multiple operators start mining the same crater, what stops it from becoming a free-for-all?

 

Designated Lunar Areas offer an answer — coordination without ownership, operations without appropriation. Think FCC spectrum rules, but for the lunar south pole.

New post from Open Lunar Fellow Aaron Mackey.

 

At Open Lunar Foundation’s recent webinar, we explored a simple but important question: when is the Moon truly for everyone? The discussion brought together perspectives from governance, technology, culture, and community leadership to examine who shapes lunar futures and what more inclusive stewardship could look like. 

 

Moderated by Open Lunar Affiliate Amy Sample Ward, the discussion highlighted the importance of moving beyond narrow ideas of access toward responsibility, accountability, and broader participation in lunar decision-making. The session also connected these bigger questions to practical needs, including clearer coordination tools and more transparent frameworks for future lunar activity. We are grateful to everyone who joined and helped deepen the conversation.

 

 

The Lunar Ledger will release its first lunar mission dataset this year in partnership with JAOPS and Dymon. The data comes from Intuitive Machines’ Mission 2, during which the YAOKI rover captured images of the lunar surface.

 

While the YAOKI team has already shared a selection of these images, additional mission data will be made available through Open Lunar’s Lunar Ledger platform. In this webinar, we’ll explore mission operations, software tools, and post-mission data processing.

 

We’re also pleased to welcome representatives from COSPAR, who will share insights on how new datasets like this can support and advance lunar science applications (read more about our MoU with COSPAR here).

 

Sign up to be the first to hear about our upcoming webinar with JAOPS and COSPAR — and get notified the moment the dataset is available for download. If you know colleagues or teams interested in lunar data and space missions, feel free to share the link below with them as well.

 

 

The European Space Policy Institute (ESPI) and Open Lunar Foundation are partnering to design and deliver a lunar governance tabletop exercise for member state delegations on the sidelines of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Plenary in early June. The exercise will explore how multiple state and non-state actors operating within the same region of the Moon navigate challenges related to space resource utilisation, information-sharing, and coordination.

 

ESPI and Open Lunar have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding formalising their partnership to collaborate on future lunar governance and policy initiatives.

Open Lunar will also be partnering with the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) to design and facilitate a tabletop on the sidelines of UNIDIR’s Outer Space Security Conference in Geneva this September. Participation will be open to Geneva-based diplomatic delegations, space industry and related experts and will explore emerging lunar security issues.

 

SpaceWatch.Global published coverage of Open Lunar and the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) signing a Memorandum of Understanding to foster scientific engagement and broader information exchange related to lunar missions and activities.

Senior Policy Lead, Samuel Jardine, attended UNCOPUOS LSC in Vienna last week, as Open Lunar’s permanent observer, engaging with government delegations from across the world on the Lunar Ledger and other Open Lunar Foundation initiatives. He also submitted a Conference Room Paper (CRP), providing member states with a synthesised feedback report of stakeholder consultations on information-sharing conducted since 2022. The document is available here and in the link below.

Sam was further invited by the Working Group on the Status and Application of the Five United Nations Treaties on Outer Space to present this research to member states, with a focus on the Lunar Ledger. The presentation contributed to the Working Group’s ongoing efforts to consider how Article XI of the Outer Space Treaty could be operationalised, including potential approaches for UNCOPUOS to formalise and enhance its repository of space activity information.

 

The Lunar Ledger was also noted by the Lunar Policy Platform in its CRP to the Committee, as well as appearing in Secure World Foundation’s latest report that informed their CRP.

Important reporting by The New York Times highlights an issue that is becoming more prevalent: transparent information sharing. Blue Ghost’s successful landing was historic, but its near miss in lunar orbit was also a reminder of what is coming as more actors set their sights on the Moon.

 

Even with only a limited number of active spacecraft around the Moon, coordination challenges are already emerging. That is why Open Lunar Foundation has built the Lunar Ledger (lunarledger.space), and why it matters that our partners at Firefly Aerospace are among the actors already sharing mission information on the platform.

 

As lunar activity grows, the future of the Moon will depend not only on who gets there, but on how well activity is coordinated once they do.

 

The Georgia Institute of Technology has launched the first space sustainability course in the United States, with this year’s focus on lunar surface coordination among nation-states, and Open Lunar is proud to serve as the institutional partner for this course.

 

The course is taught by Thomas González Roberts, an Open Lunar Affiliate and Advisor to the Lunar Ledger Project. This term also featured a guest lecture from our Senior Policy Lead, Samuel Jardine. Last month, our Director of Industry Integration, Mehak Sarang, visited campus and engaged with students.

 

As part of the course, students presented final projects offering policy recommendations to improve lunar coordination and governance. Open Lunar’s research and initiatives were used as key references throughout. Stay tuned for more highlights from Georgia Tech’s Engineering Space Policy Laboratory, where the next generation of aerospace engineers is being equipped with a strong policy analysis lens.

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