By John Chisholm and Dan Garretson

Originally published in The Wall Street Journal on July 31, 2026. During the Journal's 30-day exclusivity period, the first three paragraphs are reproduced below with permission. Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal.

NASA’s Artemis program aims to land astronauts on the moon as soon as 2028, the first manned lunar landing since 1972. China plans to follow with its own manned landing by 2030. But landing first won’t achieve what matters most for humanity: a self-sustaining lunar economy. Free enterprise on the moon and free trade in what it produces, from lunar-powered data services to cheaper Mars missions, promise to benefit people everywhere.

To be self-sustaining, a lunar economy needs paying customers beyond the governments footing today’s bills, along with entrepreneurs to serve those customers and investors to fund the entrepreneurs. All need assurance that what they buy, build or fund remains theirs to use or transfer. At the lunar south pole, mines may someday harvest ice for rocket propellant, avoiding Earth launch costs.

To attract investment, miners will need legal acknowledgment of first and continuous occupation, control over land use, the ability to exclude others and assurance that land and improvements can be sold or transferred. In short, ownership rights to lunar real estate.

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The complete article will be available here after the Journal’s initial exclusivity period.