Scientists Estimate Lunar Water Reserves for Elon Musk’s Proposed City of One Million Residents

Can Elon Musk’s Moon City Sustain Its Population? Scientists Calculate Water Supply Longevity

According to НВ — Техно: A team of experts, including researchers from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in the United States, has evaluated whether the Moon contains enough water to support a city of one million inhabitants, as envisioned by Elon Musk. Under optimistic conditions, with an initial reserve of one billion tons of water, the city would exhaust its supply in just over two years. However, if water recycling systems operate at maximum efficiency, the same city could remain well supplied with water for centuries. Smaller communities ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 residents could potentially have water resources lasting several hundred years.

The study estimates that the Moon harbors approximately 600 million tons of ice, primarily located in permanently shadowed polar craters where sunlight never reaches. Scientists believe this ice was delivered by asteroids shortly after the Moon formed. On Earth’s International Space Station, water recycling technology achieves a 98% recovery rate, indicating that similar systems could extend lunar water supplies significantly, making long-term habitation more feasible.

Elon Musk’s Vision for a Lunar Settlement

Elon Musk recently announced ambitions to build a self-sustaining city on the Moon within the next decade. However, as researcher Martin Elvis points out,

“If these bold plans by space billionaires are to come to fruition, the first priority must be locating larger quantities of water.”

This research on lunar water availability was published in the journal Frontiers in Space Technologies.

These findings emphasize how crucial water availability is for successful colonization of the Moon-a vital consideration for Musk and other entrepreneurs aiming to expand space infrastructure. Given the Moon’s limited resources, managing water supplies efficiently will be essential to the viability of any long-term extraterrestrial settlement.