Constructing Sustainable Lunar Settlements: European Perspectives on the Moon Village (Space Power and Politics)

This volume analyses the multifaceted challenges and opportunities of future human habitation on the Moon. The idea of a ‘Moon Village’, once promoted by the European Space Agency (ESA), serves as a shorthand for this ambition, and for the wider political, economic and ethical questions it raises.The book examines power, international cooperation and responsibility in space in the current return-to-the-Moon era.It contrasts Europe’s distributed approach-shared between ESA, EU and national governments-with the centralised strategies of the United States and China, and considers what this means for Europe’s capacity to act with coherence in space exploration.Drawing on policy, law and practical engineering insights, the book compares the United States and Europe in their spending, priorities and political commitment to lunar exploration.Case studies include EU space diplomacy (the European External Action Service and the EU Special Envoy for Space), Europe-Russia cooperation, and proposa