Introduction
The renewal of global interest in lunar exploration marks a new chapter in humanity’s relationship with its celestial neighbor. Unlike the state-driven space race of the 20th century, this modern era is characterized by a complex interplay of national space agencies, burgeoning private companies, academic institutions, and public interest. Navigating this intricate landscape requires a new form of coordination, one that can foster cooperation without imposing rigid control. Into this environment stepped the Moon Village Association (MVA), a non-governmental organization (NGO) established in Vienna in 2017. The MVA was created not to build rockets or landers, but to serve as a permanent, global, and informal forum for every stakeholder with an interest in the Moon’s future. Its fundamental purpose is to nurture cooperation among diverse entities, whether they are pursuing public or private initiatives, and to help guide the sustainable development of lunar activities for all humankind.
The Moon Village: A Concept, Not a Location
The name “Moon Village” can be misleading if taken literally. The MVA’s core vision is not for a single, centralized settlement on the lunar surface, nor is it for an orbiting facility akin to the International Space Station. Instead, the “Moon Village” is a powerful concept, a framework designed to encompass a diverse community of projects and activities. It represents the collective sum of all efforts—governmental, commercial, academic, and cultural—that are directed toward the exploration and use of the Moon in a sustainable manner.
The concept is built upon the principle of an open architecture. This approach allows for a wide range of activities to coexist and potentially interact, from initial robotic and automated missions to human-tended operations and, eventually, permanent human settlement. The goal is to create an environment where international cooperation and the commercialization of space can both flourish. Rather than being managed by a single entity, the activities under the Moon Village umbrella would be guided by lean coordination mechanisms and common standards, both technical and ethical. This framework acts as a catalyst, encouraging new alliances between public and private organizations, including those from non-space industries that may find new markets and opportunities in a lunar economy.
A significant aspect of this conceptual foundation is its intentionally holistic and multi-disciplinary nature. The MVA defines the stakeholders of the Moon Village as hailing from technical, scientific, cultural, and economic fields. This is a departure from traditional space exploration models that have often prioritized engineering and scientific objectives above all else. By embedding cultural and economic dimensions into the core definition of the Moon Village, the MVA signals a more profound vision. It suggests that the long-term success of humanity’s presence on the Moon depends on more than just technological prowess. It requires the establishment of a viable economy, a sense of shared purpose, and a cultural relevance that can inspire and sustain the endeavor for generations. This approach treats lunar settlement not merely as a remote scientific outpost but as the potential genesis of a new branch of human society. Furthermore, the MVA sees the Moon Village as a vital proving ground for developing the technologies, operational experience, and cooperative frameworks that will be necessary for future missions deeper into the solar system.
Organizational Mission and Global Structure
As a Vienna-based NGO, the Moon Village Association has established a significant international presence since its founding. The organization’s network includes over 600 active participants from more than 65 countries, complemented by over 30 institutional members from around the globe. This diverse membership represents a broad spectrum of technical, scientific, cultural, and interdisciplinary fields, reflecting the inclusive ethos at the heart of the Moon Village concept. The MVA actively partners with both space and non-space organizations to stimulate international discussion and help formulate concrete plans for the implementation of its vision.
A Decentralized Global Network
The MVA’s impressive global reach is not managed through a traditional corporate structure of international offices and salaried staff. Instead, the organization has implemented a highly agile and scalable operational model built upon a network of volunteers. This network is composed of National and Regional Coordinators who act as the “voice of the MVA” in their respective parts of the world. These coordinators are volunteers who lead and are responsible for promoting the association’s mission locally, a structure that becomes increasingly valuable as lunar activities expand globally.
The functions of these coordinators are central to the MVA’s strategy of grassroots engagement and community building. Their responsibilities are varied and impactful, including:
- Organizing Events: Coordinators are tasked with organizing or supporting local events for the International Moon Day, creating platforms for public engagement, knowledge sharing, and celebrating lunar exploration.
- Facilitating Collaboration: They work to connect key players within their regions, including space agencies, commercial companies, and academic institutions, to foster international collaboration on lunar projects.
- Building Networks: A core function is the tireless work of building and strengthening national and international networks. Coordinators connect with local organizations and individuals to spread awareness of the MVA’s mission and grow a robust, engaged community.
- Promoting Education: Education and outreach are fundamental to the MVA’s work. Coordinators organize workshops, lectures, and seminars in collaboration with schools, universities, and community groups to inspire the next generation and deepen public understanding of space science.
- Sharing Best Practices: The network serves as a conduit for sharing successful strategies and innovative ideas. Regular quarterly meetings and an annual online call allow coordinators to share updates, discuss challenges, and refine their approaches, ensuring the entire network benefits from collective experience.
This operational model, centered on an informal forum and a decentralized volunteer network, is a strategic choice. It allows the MVA to maintain a global presence with minimal overhead, making it remarkably agile and adaptable. Local coordinators can tailor their outreach efforts to the specific cultural and political contexts of their nations, making the MVA’s message more resonant and effective. The organization’s influence stems not from top-down directives or regulatory authority, but from its ability to build consensus, foster community, and unite a diverse group of stakeholders around a shared vision. It functions less like a formal institution and more like a global movement, designed to propagate an idea and cultivate the community needed to bring it to fruition.
Architecting the Future: Policy and Governance
While the Moon Village concept is aspirational, the MVA is deeply engaged in the practical work of creating the frameworks necessary to make it a reality. A significant portion of its efforts is dedicated to addressing the complex issues of policy, sustainability, and governance that will define humanity’s future on the Moon. The association has positioned itself as a key facilitator in these global conversations.
The Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA)
In 2020, the MVA initiated one of its most significant projects: the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA). This initiative was created to serve as a neutral, multi-stakeholder forum for addressing the critical challenges of lunar exploration. Its primary goals were to help de-risk future missions by establishing common understandings and to increase global cooperation for the peaceful exploration and settlement of the Moon.
The composition of GEGSLA was intentionally diverse, bringing together members from space agencies, government bodies, private industry, international organizations, other NGOs, universities, and research centers. This inclusive approach extended to the public, who were involved through a consultation process. The group’s work began in February 2021 and built upon the MVA’s earlier development of its “Best Practices for Sustainable Lunar Activities”. This foundational work culminated at the end of 2022 with the publication of a comprehensive report titled “Recommended Framework and Key Elements for Peaceful and Sustainable Lunar Activities”.
The creation of this framework was only the first step. The MVA then embarked on a strategic campaign to ensure its dissemination and consideration in the appropriate international forums. The report was distributed widely, most notably to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), the primary international body for developing space law. The MVA’s status as a permanent observer within UNCOPUOS gives it a crucial platform to support and inform these discussions. In January 2023, GEGSLA entered its “Operational Phase,” with the explicit goal of promoting the consideration and implementation of its recommended framework within the ongoing deliberations at the UN.
This entire process reveals a sophisticated strategy for influencing international policy. As an NGO, the MVA lacks the legal authority to create binding treaties. Recognizing this limitation, its approach is not to dictate terms but to shape the conversation. By creating a neutral platform like GEGSLA, the MVA facilitated a consensus-building process among the very stakeholders who will be conducting future lunar missions. It effectively did the preparatory work, creating a pre-vetted set of guidelines that already had buy-in from a wide range of global actors. By then introducing this consensus-based framework into the formal environment of UNCOPUOS, the MVA provided a ready-made foundation for future international agreements. This is a powerful use of “soft power,” proactively establishing the norms of behavior on the Moon before divergent practices and potential conflicts can become entrenched.
Thematic Working Groups
To organize its diverse activities and focus expertise, the MVA operates through a series of thematic working groups. These groups bring together members with shared interests to tackle specific aspects of the Moon Village concept, ranging from highly technical challenges to complex cultural questions. The work of these groups is often made public through workshops, webinars, and publications, contributing to the global body of knowledge on lunar settlement.
A prominent example is the Architectural Concepts Working Group. This group serves as a forum for the international discussion of different architectural concepts for lunar habitats and infrastructure. It also addresses key environmental and engineering challenges, such as mitigating the effects of abrasive lunar dust and protecting inhabitants from cosmic radiation. This working group has undertaken a detailed case study for a potential settlement at the lunar south pole, envisioned for the year 2045 and known as “OASIS”. Through workshops and webinars, the group shares progress on these architectural studies, exploring practical issues of design and implementation.
In stark contrast to the technical focus of the architecture group, the Cultural Considerations Working Groupdemonstrates the MVA’s commitment to a truly interdisciplinary dialogue. This group explores the humanistic dimensions of space exploration. It has hosted webinars on a wide array of topics, including “Afro-Futurism and Space Law,” a session on the experiences of an all-artist analog lunar mission, and discussions on achieving just and sustainable space exploration. These conversations address critical social questions, such as how to make space accessible to communities in the global south and overcome the political and economic barriers that have historically limited participation.
In addition to these, the MVA has launched other specialized groups, such as the Industry Working Group, to cater to the specific needs and interests of the commercial space sector. Together, these working groups form the operational backbone of the MVA, allowing it to make progress on multiple fronts simultaneously and ensuring that its vision for the Moon Village is grounded in both technical feasibility and humanistic values.
Cultivating Innovation and Global Engagement
The Moon Village Association’s strategy extends beyond policy and discussion to the active cultivation of the next generation of lunar technologies and innovators. The organization recognizes that a sustainable presence on the Moon requires not only international agreements but also a continuous pipeline of new ideas and practical solutions.
The PromoMoon Initiative
A cornerstone of this effort is the PromoMoon Initiative, an annual competition organized by the MVA in partnership with the Ukrainian aerospace firm Yuzhnoye State Design Office. The initiative is held in honor of Dr. Alexander Degtyarev, a leader who made significant contributions to international cooperation in space exploration. PromoMoon is specifically designed to inspire what the MVA calls the “Moon Village Generation”—a diverse group including students, individual enthusiasts, and startups—to develop and propose novel concepts for lunar-related technologies.
The competition solicits proposals across several key categories that are essential for establishing a lunar presence. These categories provide a clear roadmap of the technological areas the MVA and its partners see as priorities.
The incentives for participants go beyond a simple prize. The top teams receive invaluable, free-of-charge business-to-business (B2B) mentorship from leading experts in the space industry. Perhaps most significantly, the winners are given the opportunity to co-author a scientific paper based on their work and have it featured at the prestigious International Astronautical Congress (IAC), the world’s premier global space event. This provides emerging innovators with unparalleled visibility and a direct pathway into the professional space community.
The concurrent operation of the high-level, policy-focused GEGSLA and the grassroots, technology-focused PromoMoon initiative reveals a remarkably pragmatic and well-rounded strategy. The MVA is simultaneously addressing the two fundamental pillars required to realize its vision: a stable, agreed-upon governance framework and the physical technology needed to operate on the Moon. GEGSLA works from the top down, influencing international policy and creating the “soft infrastructure” of rules and norms. PromoMoon works from the bottom up, cultivating the “hard infrastructure” of technology and talent. This dual-pronged approach demonstrates a sophisticated understanding that a sustainable lunar future cannot be built on policy or technology alone; it requires both to advance in concert. The MVA is thus acting as both a global think tank and a global incubator.
Outreach and Open Dialogue
To ensure its vision is shared and shaped by the widest possible audience, the MVA maintains a robust and transparent outreach program. The association leverages digital platforms and international events to foster an open dialogue about all aspects of lunar exploration. Its YouTube channel hosts a rich archive of content, including recordings of webinars, workshops, and symposiums.
The content of these outreach efforts is intentionally broad, reflecting the MVA’s inclusive philosophy. Technical discussions delve into complex topics such as the LunaNet interoperability specification, a framework for ensuring communication and navigation services from different providers can work together around the Moon. At the same time, the MVA hosts deep-dive architectural workshops and culturally focused webinars that explore everything from the role of art in space exploration to the challenges of ensuring equitable access for developing nations. A central event in the MVA’s calendar is its annual Global Moon Village Workshop & Symposium, which brings together its global community to share progress, present new ideas, and plan for the future. This commitment to open dialogue ensures that the conversation about the Moon’s future is not confined to closed-door meetings but is accessible to a global public.
Pathways for Participation
The Moon Village Association is structured to be an inclusive organization, offering clear pathways for both institutions and individuals to get involved in its mission. Participation is designed to be mutually beneficial, providing value to the members while strengthening the association’s global network and capabilities.
For institutional members, such as companies, academic bodies, and other organizations, joining the MVA provides a unique position within the evolving lunar ecosystem. Membership grants access to what the association describes as “exclusive deliberations,” allowing these entities to be part of the core conversations shaping the future of lunar activities. It also provides them with instruments and platforms to promote their own products and services, making their capabilities visible to a highly relevant and targeted global community of space professionals and decision-makers.
For individuals, the MVA offers direct, hands-on ways to contribute. One significant avenue is through volunteering as a researcher for specific MVA projects. For instance, the association has actively recruited researchers for its “Benefit Sharing Project,” which likely explores frameworks for equitably distributing the benefits derived from space resources. The requirements for such roles underscore the MVA’s interdisciplinary needs: they seek individuals with not only a familiarity with the space sector but also experience working in international teams, an interest in the principles of international cooperation, and strong cross-cultural communication skills. In return for their time and expertise, these volunteers become part of a global nonprofit organization that holds observer status at the UNCOPUOS, work directly with MVA leadership, and receive recognition for their contributions, including co-authorship on internationally distributed documents. These opportunities allow passionate individuals to contribute meaningfully to the formulation of lunar policy and practice.
Summary
The Moon Village Association has established itself as a unique and influential organization in the modern space era. It is not a space agency that builds hardware, but a global coordinating body whose primary function is to serve as a catalyst for cooperation, dialogue, and the sustainable development of the Moon. Its strength lies in its ability to bring together a diverse array of stakeholders—from governments and multinational corporations to startups and artists—and to build consensus around a shared vision for a peaceful and collaborative lunar future.
The MVA’s strategic approach is multi-faceted and pragmatic. It wields a form of “soft power,” using initiatives like the Global Expert Group on Sustainable Lunar Activities (GEGSLA) to shape the future of international lunar policy from its position as a non-governmental organization. By facilitating consensus among key global actors and leveraging its observer status at the United Nations, it proactively lays the groundwork for future treaties and norms of behavior.
This top-down policy work is balanced by a bottom-up strategy for fostering innovation. Through its PromoMoon initiative, the MVA is actively cultivating the next generation of lunar technologies and the talent required to develop them. This dual approach of simultaneously building the “soft” infrastructure of governance and the “hard” infrastructure of technology demonstrates a comprehensive understanding of the requirements for long-term success.
The association’s global reach is enabled by an agile and scalable operational model. Its decentralized network of volunteer coordinators allows for effective grassroots engagement and cultural adaptation across the world, functioning more like a global movement than a rigid bureaucracy. Finally, the MVA is defined by its holistic and human-centric vision. By integrating cultural, artistic, economic, and ethical considerations into the technical and scientific challenges of lunar settlement, the association champions a future on the Moon that is not just achievable, but also equitable and meaningful for all of humanity. The MVA is working to ensure that as humanity returns to the Moon, it does so not as competing factions, but as a global community.
