Strategic Implications of Lunar Mass Drivers as a Dual-Use Technology

While mass drivers have long captured the imagination of science fiction authors, they are rapidly moving into the realm of practical engineering. Operational mass drivers would pose unique and profound implications to global economic and military strategy. By dramatically lowering the cost of moving mass in space, mass drivers could enable large-scale industrialization of the Moon, rapid deployment and repositioning of orbital infrastructure, and fundamentally new approaches to logistics in space. Their impact extends well beyond logistics.