Orbit Fab and Breaking Ground sign World’s First Agreement for Donation of Lunar Regolith, Setting Space Resource Transaction Precedent

[Lafayette, Jul 26, 2022] Today, Orbit Fab, the Gas Stations In Space™ company creating an in-space propellant supply chain, and Breaking Ground Trust, a lunar resources perpetual purpose trust, announced the signing of a letter of intent for a regolith donation. Under the terms of this agreement, Orbit Fab intends to purchase a lunar sample from a third party and donate it to Breaking Ground to hold it in trust. This collaboration allows both entities to pursue their shared interest in developing and promoting a sustainable, balanced, and lawful way to manage lunar resources.

“This partnership with Breaking Ground Trust will pave the way for a sustainable future.” Said James Bultitude, CTO of Orbit Fab. “Long term, Orbit Fab will be producing commodities and feedstock for lunar missions by buying raw minerals from commercial companies in space. Orbit Fab is working towards becoming the materials supplier for the bustling in-space economy, starting with a propellant supply chain.”

“The idea came from seeing the ‘one percent for the planet’ concept at play on Earth and trying to ensure we break the cycle of exploitation with space and really use the resources to better life on Earth for all peoples.” Mr. Bultitude went on to say, “To have a bustling in-space economy we need to be able to use the resources up there, reducing our reliance on Earth, while also giving back to the space community.”

Breaking Ground and Orbit Fab both believe that it is necessary to find a sustainable way to manage lunar resources, this letter of intent provides an opportunity to develop concrete resources management approaches that are cooperative, adaptive, plural, and balanced to fit the needs of as many stakeholders as possible.This is the first time a commercial company is donating lunar regolith to a perpetual purpose trust. With this partnership, both entities aim to create a precedent that will help design innovative solutions for future transactions of lunar resources.

“Orbit Fab’s offer to purchase regolith and then donate it to the trust showed us that the trust stewardship model can be used in innovative ways that we hadn’t even thought of yet,” said Jessy Kate Schingler, one of BGT’s trustees. “We are looking forward to partnering with Orbit Fab and other companies to prototype new models of resource management while encouraging investment in this new domain.”