Apparently McMurdo Station needs 7000 tons of assorted supplies each year. Assuming Moon Base runs on a similar scale, that's an initial annual budget of $7bn just for the shipping.
This assumes air and water are solved problems and don't need to be shipped.
Note that oxygen != air. 100% oxygen atmospheres are not a good idea for extended stays.
Nitrogen is not common on the Moon. Nor is carbon (for filtering or other organic applications.)
It's not easy to imagine a lunar base generating >$7bn of returns every year. Apart from space tourism, there isn't a whole lot you can do/build/sell on a moon base that has more value on Earth than it would cost to transport back here.
Of course you could argue Science, and that's fair enough. But literally all the commercial arguments I've seen have been "Something will no doubt appear" - which is possibly not going to win over rational investors.
This assumes air and water are solved problems and don't need to be shipped.
Note that oxygen != air. 100% oxygen atmospheres are not a good idea for extended stays.
Nitrogen is not common on the Moon. Nor is carbon (for filtering or other organic applications.)
It's not easy to imagine a lunar base generating >$7bn of returns every year. Apart from space tourism, there isn't a whole lot you can do/build/sell on a moon base that has more value on Earth than it would cost to transport back here.
Of course you could argue Science, and that's fair enough. But literally all the commercial arguments I've seen have been "Something will no doubt appear" - which is possibly not going to win over rational investors.