On the tenth anniversary of the Evolvable Lunar Architecture (ELA) study, its historical significance has come into sharp focus as a visionary roadmap that helped reframe U.S. Lunar ambitions around sustainability, affordability, and commercial partnership.
Released in 2015, the ELA study catalyzed a shift from traditional government-led Moon missions toward a modular, commercially driven architecture—laying intellectual groundwork for programs like Artemis, Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), and public-private In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) development. Its core principles—such as leveraging reusable systems, tapping Lunar resources, and anchoring federal demand to unlock private investment—have not only shaped NASA policy but now find renewed momentum under the current administration...