Space resource missions, companies and permissions.
Has there been a commercial delivery of a resource from the Moon, an asteroid, or Mars?
No commercial delivery in this dataset.
- Sampled (material collected): Chang'e-5, Chang'e-6, OSIRIS-REx and 3 more
- Processing demo (extraction demo): MOXIE (oxygen)
- Next planned: METAL multispectral camera on Griffin-1, launch: Planned 2026 H2 (target)
A reference to the organizations, missions, government authorizations and laws behind efforts to use resources from the Moon, asteroids and Mars.
Scientific sampling, processing demonstrations and commercial delivery are different steps. Sample returns and processing demonstrations in this dataset are not commercial deliveries. Read the full status answer.
Start with a question
Each record shows its sources, its check date and any open questions recorded on it. What is covered and what is not.
How close is anyone to using lunar water?
Follow water from the Moon through five steps. See what has been shown, what is only proposed and what is still missing.
Who is working on space resources?
Companies, agencies and institutions, the highest step of evidence each has reached, and what they only claim.
Where are missions going?
Target sites on the Moon, asteroids and Mars, with each mission's outcome or planned date.
What was planned, and what happened?
Each resource mission's earliest recorded plan beside its outcome, every recorded schedule change, dated contracts, awards and funding, and a feed of new events.
What does the law allow?
Who owns what is extracted, who grants permission and which permits exist, compared by country. Not an official register.
Everything in 3D: the lunar south pole, each asteroid shape on its own, Bennu's sample site, three sampling tools, and the rest. Asteroid shapes: Ryugu ISAS/JAXA, Bennu NASA, Apophis NASA PDS; rendered by SpaceMiningData.
Explore three sampling mechanisms: PlanetVac gas-driven sampling · TRIDENT rotation, hammering and extension · TAGSAM, the gas-driven sampler OSIRIS-REx used on Bennu. Compare the three in 3D · Compare what PlanetVac, TRIDENT and MOXIE demonstrated. Turn Bennu, the asteroid OSIRIS-REx sampled, in 3D.
Where missions are going
18 of 40 lunar records placed at 10 sitesLunar sites named in mission records. Markers are named-feature centres or printed coordinates, not landing points. The full map, site list and notes; Lunar south pole missions.
Organizations by highest step reached
75 organizationsThe highest resource level recorded on each classified organization profile, leaving out bodies listed only for context. Missions are counted separately on the status page. How the ladder works.
Bars show 53 of 75 organizations with a recorded resource evidence level. 22 have no resource evidence level recorded and are omitted from the bars.
Government authorizations
4 actsGovernment acts found in this research that name a resource activity or a resource mission. These instruments have different legal effects. This is not an official register.
| Country | Holder and mission | Instrument | Granted | Linked mission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | FAA-led interagency payload review: Moon Express MX-1E (2016)Holder: Moon Express, Inc. | Favorable payload determination | 2016Granted | Moon Express MX-1E first lunar mission (Google Lunar XPRIZE attempt)Not flown (stalled) |
| Japan | Japan Space Resources Act permit to ispace for HAKUTO-R Mission 1 (2022)Holder: ispace, inc. | Space resources authorization | 2022-11-04Granted | HAKUTO-R Mission 1 (ispace M1 lander)Flew. Outcome: failure |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourg space resources mission authorisation to ispace EUROPE S.A. for the TENACIOUS micro-rover (2024)Holder: ispace EUROPE S.A. | Space resources authorization | 2024-11-22Granted | TENACIOUS micro-rover (ispace-EUROPE)Flew. Outcome: failure |
| Japan | Japan Space Resources Act permit to ispace for Mission 2 (RESILIENCE) (2024)Holder: ispace, inc. | Space resources authorization | 2024-12-17Granted | SMBC x HAKUTO-R Venture Moon (ispace Mission 2, RESILIENCE lander)Flew. Outcome: failure |
Scheduled next
Next 5 of 18The next missions with a planned launch date, or only a planned landing date. Planned dates are the operator's or agency's stated targets and often slip. All 18 planned missions.
| Mission | Operator | Target | Planned launch or landing |
|---|---|---|---|
| METAL multispectral camera (Interlune / NASA Ames) on Griffin-1Manifested | Interlune | Moon | Planned 2026 H2 (target) |
| Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1, NASA Moon Base II)In development | Astrobotic Technology | Moon | Planned, no earlier than 2026-11 |
| Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 2 (Riders 2 the Dark)In development | Firefly Aerospace | Moon | Planned, no earlier than 2027 |
| Intuitive Machines IM-4 (Nova-C lander, NASA CLPS task order CP-22)In development | Intuitive Machines | Moon | Planned 2027 (target) |
| PROSPECT (Package for Resource Observation, in-Situ Prospecting for Exploration, Characterisation & Testing)Manifested | European Space Agency | Moon | Planned 2027 (target) |
Recent events
Latest recorded events, including policy steps, contracts, awards and schedule changes. A record recheck is not an event. All news and events. News sources last checked automatically 2026-11-09. New events appear after source review; this is not a live feed.
- 2026-11-07
- 2026-11-07
- 2026-10-28
- 2026-10-27
- 2026-10-19