Business model pitch: Middleman on the Moon

If one hypothetical robot has the same mass as one human, you could send almost 300 robots to the Moon for the cost of sending one human, or more if the robots are smaller. (Human=$806,452/kg, robot=$2,720/kg, to go to space.)

Plus, each robot could have 2 human remote operators working in shifts from Earth.

So imagine 600 people VR telecommuting to the Moon from their living rooms to explore and build things. Would you apply for that job? I would take a pay cut for that!

Potential customers:

Universities researching astronomy, materials science and astrobiology.
Businesses prospecting for resources.
Governments that can't afford a lot of rockets, doing prestige R&D.
Habitat and greenhouse construction for countries that plan on sending people.
Billionaire idiots running robot races on the Moon for a hefty damage deposit.

Basically we've democratized Apollo. Hundreds of workers get an immersive Moon experience, and customers get hands-for-hire on the Moon.

Problems and mitigations:

1. The 2.6 second signal delay.

For VR sickness, the robot's head can be a ball of cameras transmitting a spherical panorama, so when you rotate your head to look around you do not experience lag.
Robot navigation can be fully automated by just clicking on two map points and letting it self navigate.
Simply moving more slowly can compensate.
Use predictive AI wherever it helps.
Create a VR game Moon simulation with the delay built in, release it as open source, and look for human talent to rise to the top. Hold contests with prizes. Players know what they are qualifying for.

2. Electronics die in the cold lunar night.

Are freeze-proof electronics really impossible?!?
At night, all robots hibernate inside an insulated shed with a small radioactive heat source.
Open to other ideas. :/

Prerequisite business steps to get there:

Develop a profitable telerobotics industry on Earth. Markets are: risk work, remote expertise, and maybe even sex work (gross but historically big bucks).
Expand said telerobotics to profitable NEO satellite repair and even orbital manufacturing.
Develop the aforementioned VR games to recruit and train skilled workers, and to generate popular interest.

2025-03-27