Would a satellite factory on the moon be better?

Yes. That is why one of the theoretical proposals for a manned mars mission is to first build a base on the Moon.

I know, it makes sense to use the moon to launch to Mars (a bit more of a distance), but I wasn’t sure if all the effort to make a satellite factory there for Earth would be similarly cost effective in comparison.

I mean .. up front you’re building on the moon’s surface, possibly landing construction vehicles, other heavy equipment, and structures.

Perhaps a factory-lander could just arrive, mostly ready to use. But, is that mission worth it for satellites near earth or is it something that would be secondary to a Mars mission?

Doesn’t seem practical at all to me. Satellites are jam-packed with electronics and solar panels that you are not going to make anywhere except in a big expensive chip fab.

@dabbler The moon would be a perfect clean dust free room; To make chips. Might save money having in the far future automation for the perfect computer chips.

If you think of all of the industrial facilities, processes and equipment required to manufacture things like electrical components, I don’t think this would be practical until well after my lifetime. If there was a substantial lunar colony with tens of thousands or possibly hundreds of thousands of people centuries from now, it might start to make more sense. I’ve even heard that physics could allow for a lunar space elevator with currently known technology due to the much lower gravity. Also a hybrid approach to lunar production would likely be the first steps where intricate/complex parts may be shipped up to the moon to be added to the larger, heavier components being manufactured on the Moon. I might always me more cost effective to ship light components rather than manufacturing 100% on the Moon.

This is a guess though. I’m definitely not the smartest jelly in the pond when it comes to this stuff.

@gorillapaws by then satellites might be obsolete, too. I think in the 22nd century there’ll be satellite museums where some satellites are retired, and the rest will be scrapped or left in orbit for sightseers.

Possibly. Maybe if it’s not on earth earnings would not be taxable. That’s a positive right there.

Better than what?

Once we learn how to build satellites and rockets from moon dust anything is possible. Until then it’s not going to happen.

@RedDeerGuy1 The moon is NOT dust-free

The Moon is a quarter of a million miles from Earth. You need materials, equipment, and labor to build satellites. It would be a pain to send all that stuff that far to build satellites. It would be much better to have people and equipment to build in low Earth orbit. That would be cheaper and easier. Building in orbit will eliminate launch loads, so you could build really big and delicate spacecraft. At that point materials should be obtained from somewhere in space, asteroids or the Moon, to reduce material cost.

@RocketGuy I think you’re right about it not being feasible, but wrong for the same reasons about Near Earth Orbit. Not sure how you can make your brain blind to the problem in one instance and not the other.

If you want to build spacecraft that are huge and delicate, there is no other way. A 10x JWST would have been completed in less time and $ than the one that just launched if it were built in LEO. Of course, the cost would have come from sending stuff up for assembly in the first place.

The idea here is that we accept the moon has the raw materials to build anything we can build here on earth.

We send one basic factory/mining system to get a satellite factory on the moon built from +95% moon stuff.

Then we fire the +95% built satellites back into earth’s orbit from the moon.

How can you say that makes less sense than doing the same in low earth orbit when you will need to rocket all the materials into low earth orbit?

Where are all of those satellite materials on the Moon? Some satellites are 30% carbon fiber. There are no carbon fibers or even precursors to fiber on the Moon. Is there a process to pull titanium out of Moon dust? It’s not the usual ore that we use on Earth. Epoxy? Silicones?

@RocketGuy that’s a much more cogent dismissal.

I don’t think it’s likely we can build satellites without some percentage of materials from earth. But carbon fiber is perhaps the main problem material and happens to be exceptionally lightweight. There are some carbon-dioxide reserves.

Anyway it goes, I’m not arguing that it could work at all.

@Ltryptophan
“we accept the moon has the raw materials to build anything we can build here on earth.”
Pretty big assumption. Might as well accept that we’ll find satellites ready-built already on the moon.

“We send one basic factory/mining system”
The kinds of things satellites are built of cannot be built in a “basic” system, especially the electronics.

“How can you say that makes less sense than doing the same in low earth orbit when you will need to rocket all the materials into low earth orbit?”
Because LEO is much much closer than the moon, the only advantage on the moon is the presence of raw material of dubious value considering how much sophisticated processing is required to make anything for a satellite.

Maybe not. Keep in mind that the distance from the Earth to the moon is 250,000 miles.