Multiple Base Lunar Concept of Infrastructure and Operations

IPNSIG Academy #26 – June 17, 2026

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Speaker: Dr. Daniel Tompkins - GrowMars

Moderator: Ginny Spicer - IPNSIG

Dr. Daniel Tompkins presented a proposed “multi-base” lunar operations architecture designed to support activity across the entire Moon through interconnected northern and southern polar bases linked by long-range pressurized rover traverses. He introduced the concept through his new initiative, “MoonDrops,” describing it as a systems-level approach intended to combine infrastructure, logistics, science, and resource utilization into a scalable operational framework.

Tompkins explained that the concept aims to capture economic and operational efficiencies by treating the Moon as an integrated environment rather than a collection of isolated missions. He described a possible lunar elevator tether descending from the Earth-Moon L1 point toward the equator, noting that materials such as ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene could potentially support lightweight tether systems without requiring carbon nanotubes. He said early calculations suggested even a seed ribbon with modest payload capability might be feasible using only a small fraction of current terrestrial manufacturing capacity.

Using Lunar Extremes as Resources

Dr. Daniel Tompkins emphasized that many lunar environmental extremes could potentially become operational assets. He discussed integrating existing technologies such as supercritical water oxidation and cold-trap purification into near-term lunar infrastructure planning, rather than treating them as distant future concepts. He described this process as “architecting from the right,” beginning with long-term operational goals and then working backward toward infrastructure and logistics requirements.

He outlined distinct operational roles for different lunar regions:

• North Pole: consistent power generation and compute processing

• Equatorial regions: helium-3 resources, logistics, and elevator access

• South Pole: science operations and access to carbon and nitrogen deposits in permanently shadowed regions

• Far side: radio astronomy and preservation of radio silence

Tompkins stressed that nitrogen availability represented a major constraint for sustaining pressurized habitats and argued that nitrogen resources in permanently shadowed regions were especially significant for long-duration habitation.

Mobility and Rover Systems

Dr. Daniel Tompkins reviewed existing lunar mobility developments including JAXA’s Lunar Cruiser and habitation concepts under development through the Italian Space Agency and commercial partners. He described ongoing modeling work examining how rover systems might operate across both polar and equatorial environments while balancing solar exposure, thermal management, and power generation requirements.

He explained that much of the project involved developing simulation workflows and “sandbox” environments using open-source lunar datasets to model infrastructure, habitats, and vehicle performance. The work focused heavily on thermal constraints, shadowing, solar gain, and long-duration traverses potentially spanning thousands of kilometers across the lunar surface.

Life Support and Resource Recovery

Dr. Daniel Tompkins discussed baseline human consumable requirements derived from International Space Station operations, including oxygen, carbon dioxide removal, water, and waste recovery. He highlighted nitrogen recovery from urine as a particularly important opportunity for sustainable lunar habitation, noting that roughly 90 percent of human nitrogenous waste is contained in urine streams and can be recovered relatively simply.

He contrasted the Moon with Mars, observing that Mars possesses more readily accessible atmospheric nitrogen and carbon dioxide resources, while the Moon presents more severe constraints for maintaining pressurized environments. Tompkins argued that biological processing systems and resource recycling technologies represented underutilized opportunities within current lunar planning approaches.

Habitat Design and Thermal Management

Dr. Daniel Tompkins examined habitat geometry, radiation shielding, and thermal regulation challenges. He argued against heavily buried “regolith igloo” concepts, explaining that highly insulated habitats containing humans could overheat because metabolic heat becomes difficult to reject in vacuum environments. Instead, he proposed more open “carport”-style structures capable of shielding habitats from radiation and debris while still allowing thermal radiation to escape.

He described how infrastructure designs must simultaneously address multiple constraints, including:

• Rocket exhaust plume debris

• Micrometeorite impacts

• Radiation shielding

• Heat rejection

• Thermal cycling

• Landing hazards from future lunar traffic

Tompkins said that these overlapping requirements naturally drove infrastructure toward specific structural geometries and operational layouts.

Lunar Infrastructure and Data Centers

Dr. Daniel Tompkins discussed the possibility of large-scale lunar power infrastructure and computing operations. He suggested that distributed power stations and long-range infrastructure corridors could support substantial compute capacity on the lunar surface, including AI-oriented processing systems. He referenced efforts such as Blue Origin’s work on manufacturing solar panels from lunar regolith as evidence that future infrastructure could increasingly rely on in-situ resource utilization.

He noted that while current demand for lunar compute infrastructure remains speculative, future lunar industrial development could create new operational requirements for energy-intensive systems. He also argued that the Moon’s extremely cold thermal environment could offer advantages for heat rejection compared with low Earth orbit systems.

Apollo Experience and Lunar Mobility

Dr. Daniel Tompkins reflected on a recent meeting with Apollo astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, describing Schmitt’s observations about mobility on the lunar surface. Tompkins recounted Schmitt comparing lunar movement to Nordic skiing and noting that Apollo crews always operated within walking return distance if their rover failed.

Tompkins also discussed speculative concepts involving gyroscopically stabilized EVA suits, suggesting that such systems might permit much higher travel speeds on the lunar surface than currently envisioned. He concluded this portion of the presentation by emphasizing the inspirational role of space exploration across generations.

Q&A Discussion

During the discussion session, Ginny Spicer asked how participants could follow the GrowMars and MoonDrops projects. Dr. Daniel Tompkins explained that the work currently has pre-seed funding support and that engineering and modeling tools under development would likely become publicly available within the year. He also noted that the presentation represented the first public unveiling of the MoonDrops concept and confirmed that provisional patents had been filed.

Responding to questions about why the North Pole was preferable for high-power computing infrastructure, Dr. Daniel Tompkins cited flatter topography and more favorable illumination conditions. He explained that seasonal changes and shadowing patterns at the poles significantly affect operational planning and power availability.

Audience questions also explored data centers, AI workloads, networking, and communications systems. Dr. Daniel Tompkins discussed the unique thermal characteristics of the lunar environment, contrasting them with low Earth orbit conditions. He also addressed communications considerations on the lunar far side, emphasizing the importance of preserving radio silence for astronomy operations and suggesting that wireless infrastructure there would require special constraints.

When asked about the origins of GrowMars, Dr. Daniel Tompkins described how his work on agricultural plastics and bioplastics led into thermal modeling for Martian greenhouses and eventually broader lunar infrastructure concepts. He explained that questions surrounding sustainable greenhouse construction and thermal management opened pathways into larger systems-level space habitation research.

Closing the session, Ginny Spicer encouraged participants to engage with the Internet Society Interplanetary Chapter and support its ongoing activities and community projects. Dr. Daniel Tompkins thanked attendees for participating in the discussion.

RESOURCES

• GrowMars — Dr. Daniel Tompkins’ venture behind the MoonDrops multi-base lunar concept

• IPNSIG — Interplanetary Networking Special Interest Group, the ISOC Interplanetary Chapter hosting the Academy

• Internet Society — the parent organization IPNSIG operates under as a chapter

• Lunar Cruiser — the JAXA/Toyota crewed pressurized rover cited as a reference design

• JAXA — Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, developing the pressurized rover

• Blue Alchemist — Blue Origin’s program making solar cells from lunar regolith

• Harrison “Jack” Schmitt — Apollo 17 geologist-astronaut, the most recent living person to walk on the Moon

• Dr. James (Jim) Green — former NASA Chief Scientist, pictured trying the VR headset