Earth’s Moon will host the most opportunities for commercial space exploration over the coming decades, says Ukraine’s Pavlo Tanasyuk, founder and CEO of privately-funded UK firm Spacebit. He added: “In terms of the commercial exploration in the short term – and for space, we’re talking 20-30 years – it would be the Moon, because it’s the most viable, it’s full of resources, and you can build a base there. So, I would bet on the Moon, and I would run consecutive missions around then. And then, obviously, we’ll go beyond if there is a commercial importance as well.”
Developing space robotics technology for lunar and planetary exploration, Spacebit – founded by Tanasyuk in 2014 – has two upcoming missions in 2022.
One is a British/Ukrainian mission with a fixed payload, weighing roughly 1.5 kg, consisting of a Ukrainium-made titanium pole and the national flag, alongside various Ukrainian innovations for taking photographs, and measuring radiation and ambient lunar surface temperatures. The other mission – British, with various Ukrainian components – is a lesson in robotics, its goal to deliver the world’s smallest four-legged lunar rover, named Asagumo, to the surface of the moon.
