---
type: claim
domain: space-development
description: "By 2056 the converged cislunar architecture includes propellant depot networks at Lagrange points, MWe-scale lunar fission power, operational water and oxygen ISRU, an orbital pharma-semiconductor-bioprinting manufacturing ring, and Mars pre-positioning -- five interdependent layers where each enables the others"
confidence: experimental
source: "Astra synthesis from NASA Artemis architecture, ESA Moon Village concept, multiple ISRU roadmaps, and attractor state framework from Rumelt/Teleological Investing"
created: 2026-03-07
challenged_by: "The five-layer architecture assumes coordinated investment across layers that may not materialize -- chain-link failure risk means any single missing layer (especially power or propellant) can strand the others indefinitely. Also, Starship-era launch costs may undercut some ISRU economics (see [[falling launch costs paradoxically both enable and threaten in-space resource utilization by making infrastructure affordable while competing with the end product]])"
---

# the 30-year space economy attractor state is a cislunar industrial system with propellant networks lunar ISRU orbital manufacturing and partial life support closure

The 30-year attractor state for the space economy converges on a cislunar industrial system with five integrated layers:

1. **Cislunar propellant economy** — fuel depot networks at Earth-Moon Lagrange points, lunar orbit, and LEO, with propellant sourced primarily from lunar water ice and eventually asteroid water.
2. **Lunar industrial zone** — multiple fission reactors (hundreds of kWe to MWe scale) powering continuous ISRU, with regolith processing producing oxygen, metals, construction materials, and water.
3. **Orbital manufacturing ring** — specialized platforms in LEO for pharmaceutical crystallization, semiconductor crystal growth, ZBLAN fiber production, bioprinting, and specialty alloys.
4. **Operational SBSP** — GW-scale stations in GEO beaming power to terrestrial receivers.
5. **Mars pre-positioning** — ISRU equipment on Mars producing oxygen and water propellant for future crewed missions.

This is not a prediction but a description of where technology convergence points, following the [[attractor states provide gravitational reference points for capital allocation during structural industry change]] framework. Each component reinforces the others: propellant networks enable transportation between manufacturing sites, lunar ISRU supplies raw materials and propellant, orbital manufacturing produces high-value products for Earth and space markets, SBSP provides power at scale, and Mars infrastructure extends the system beyond cislunar space.

The architecture is partially closed — power and oxygen locally sourced, water locally extracted, basic structural materials locally produced — but complex electronics, biological supplies, and advanced materials still come from Earth. Full closure (the self-sustaining threshold) requires closing three interdependent loops simultaneously: power, water, and manufacturing.

The five layers form a chain-link system: propellant depots without ISRU are uneconomic, ISRU without power infrastructure is inoperable, and manufacturing without transportation is stranded. This means investment must be coordinated across layers, and the [[value in industry transitions accrues to bottleneck positions in the emerging architecture not to pioneers or to the largest incumbents]].

The investment framework this implies: position along the dependency chain that builds toward this attractor state. [[power is the binding constraint on all space operations because every capability from ISRU to manufacturing to life support is power-limited]], making power infrastructure foundational. Water extraction is enabling. Propellant depots are connective. Manufacturing platforms are the value-capture layer.


### Additional Evidence (challenge)
*Source: [[2026-03-00-artemis-program-restructuring]] | Added: 2026-03-16*

Artemis restructuring pushes first lunar landing to 2028 and reveals that lunar ISRU deployment is blocked by insufficient resource knowledge despite technology being at TRL 5-6. NASA states 'a resilient resource exploration campaign is needed to understand and map lunar water before commercial extraction.' This adds a critical path dependency (resource prospecting) that precedes ISRU infrastructure deployment.


### Additional Evidence (challenge)
*Source: [[2026-03-18-viper-cancellation-commercial-isru-shift]] | Added: 2026-03-18*

The pathway to lunar ISRU is now delayed and uncertain. VIPER cancelled July 2024, PRIME-1 drill barely operated before IM-2 tipped, no government resource characterization missions before 2028. Commercial replacements (Interlune camera, Blue Origin Oasis) are mapping missions, not the drilling and volatiles analysis VIPER was designed to provide. NASA's Artemis review states lunar resource knowledge is 'insufficient to proceed without significant risk.' The 30-year attractor state assumes ISRU as a foundational layer, but the characterization data required to de-risk ISRU investment is now 4+ years delayed.

---

Relevant Notes:
- [[attractor states provide gravitational reference points for capital allocation during structural industry change]] — this is the specific 30-year attractor state for space, applying the framework to a multi-trillion-dollar industry transition
- [[launch cost reduction is the keystone variable that unlocks every downstream space industry at specific price thresholds]] — launch cost determines which layers of the attractor state become economically viable and when
- [[value in industry transitions accrues to bottleneck positions in the emerging architecture not to pioneers or to the largest incumbents]] — the investment thesis follows from identifying which layer is the current bottleneck
- [[the healthcare cost curve bends up through 2035 because new curative and screening capabilities create more treatable conditions faster than prices decline]] — both healthcare and space exhibit the paradox where capability expansion initially increases rather than decreases costs
- [[power is the binding constraint on all space operations because every capability from ISRU to manufacturing to life support is power-limited]] — power sits at the root of the dependency tree
- [[water is the strategic keystone resource of the cislunar economy because it simultaneously serves as propellant life support radiation shielding and thermal management]] — water is the enabling resource layer

Topics:
- [[_map]]
