A House on the Moon: A Lunar Landing Public–Private Partnership

Abstract

The House on the Moon could be the first deep-space art installation ever. The project is an endeavor to put a traditional red Swedish house with white corners on the lunar surface as a cultural symbol. The project is set up as a public–private partnership in which private interests participate for commercial returns, and public organizations participate for scientific returns. In the process of moving the project forward, a feasibility study of a national Swedish lunar lander mission was conducted, which indicated that placing a 30 kg payload on the lunar surface could be achieved at a cost of less than 100 M€. Technical studies on the house indicate that it is possible to design a 10 kg, 6-liter payload that will deploy autonomously into a house with the dimensions of 2.5 m×3.0 m×2.0 m. The house payload is estimated to cost inside of 3 M€. Finding a way to finance the House on the Moon is a challenge, and the funding model for the mission is a combination of inviting external partners to pay for sharing the additional 20 kg payload capacity and sponsorship. This article outlines the House on the Moon project; its artistic concept, commercial models, and technical models; and its progress to date.