Strategic Sustainability Framework for Moonbase Resilience and Revitalising the Lunar Value Chain by Leveraging Earth-based Circular Economy Learnings toward greater Interdisciplinarity and Strengthened Earth-Moon Interdependency

This paper examines upstream lunar space activities in the moonbase space ecosystem through the ‘lunar space value chain’ advancing understanding which strategic sustainability approaches present opportunities and relevance for lunar habitation as a central lunar activity in the early and advanced stages of mission design when engaged interdisciplinary approaches are paramount. Drawing upon value chain (VC), life cycle assessment (LCA), and circular design approaches and Circular Economy (CE) practice in the context of UNSDGs seeks synchronizing higher-level interdisciplinary collaboration by growing sustainable impacts within the lunar space value chain, further underwriting space investments through risk reduction, strategies for moonbase resilience, and success in continuous moon habitation and simultaneously in cooperation informing earth futures. A qualitative case study approach focuses on the space architecture value chain as an integral space economy subcategory with crew habitat alignment across multiple projects sharing complexities to many lunar and terrestrial infrastructures: ranging from past, current, conceptual, to trialled space systems where circularity is considered, embedded or allows scope for further functional and economic leverage from CE; the space architecture earth-moon econosphere from a space habitat contribution perspective including intended futures where the moonbase grows and becomes ISRU optimal; more promising attempts for CE inclusion in lunar crewed mission designs, and combined aspects that inspire further space research, interdisciplinarity, and space industry investment. Cooperative learning and advancements can only occur as a hybrid interdependent Earth-Moon Progression Model. The study conclusions draw attention to the importance in better understanding the impacts on the lunar space economy by the space architecture value chain as a central sustainability case study influential to the success of crewed lunar missions. Crew-oriented validations for lunar missions have consequence in maintaining the momentum in interest from the public, government, and private investment key to continuous innovation in the Earth-Moon-then Mars Space Economy. Further, the study presents a framework building upon the successes gained and the benefits in taking advantage of contributions to sustainability where earth and space circular economies are projected to hold one of most transformative impacts on earth – human, economic and environmental and emergent in space research and permeation to both terrestrial and lunar professional practice, where UNSDG targets and CE actions in the early and advanced stages of iterative design process, testing, and validation where functionality, amenity, sustainability, life cycle costs, mission safety, risk mitigation, cost benefits are co-designed for resilience in extreme environments across the earth-moon econosphere.