Between the Craters: A Lunar Governance Crisis Simulation — Planetary Compendium Case Study
AUTHOR: MEHAK SARANG & SAMUEL JARDINE
As lunar activity accelerates, the risks of miscommunication, interference, and competing priorities are no longer theoretical. Early coordination — before infrastructure, claims, and norms harden — will shape whether the Moon develops as a domain of cooperation or conflict.
Between the Craters was developed by Open Lunar contributors for Dark Matter Labs as part of the Planetary Compendium — a global research initiative exploring governance challenges beyond Earth.
This crisis simulation explores how actors might respond to emerging tensions at the lunar south pole, highlighting coordination gaps, decision-making pressures, and the importance of shared information systems. The exercise reflects Open Lunar’s broader work to build practical coordination tools and shared infrastructure to support a peaceful, transparent, and cooperative lunar future.
View the original case study on the Planetary Compendium website.
Read the Full Case Study
The full report is available below. For the complete Planetary Compendium context and additional case studies, we encourage readers to explore the original publication.
This work is part of the Planetary Compendium, produced by Dark Matter Labs with supporting partners, and contributes to a growing body of research on governance frameworks for shared planetary domains.