Space Habitat: "Make it so"
Somebody has to start somewhere sometime (click on arrow ->)
Embedded Files
Space for the rest of us
Space for the rest of us
Space fandom — the L5 Society former members and like-minded people — can invest small amounts per share in our non-profit corporation to provide seed money to be used for grubstaking an effort to enlist big money — philanthropists and venture capitalists. The goal would be funding for research and development of ways and means to build small asteroid-based habitats with tether-spin gravity and shirtsleeve conditions. These would be almost self-sustaining, and would provide supplies and services to everybody else out and about in Space, and build more and better habitats to sell, and so make a living.
"Last Restroom before the Rest of the Solar System."
All of us who ever bought a deed to Luna real estate, just for fun, or even thought about it — why not get into this? The big players will concentrate all the commercial profits from Space in the corporate top-tier greed trap. The governments will get bragging rights and military high ground. But the L4 Space-Habitat Society investors will see what we can do for actual Humanity. Maybe we won't lose too much money, or even make the grubstake back. But... Somebody has to start somewhere.
Gravity Wells are Overrated
Gravity Wells are Overrated
We are finally, laboriously, expensively, able to climb out of Terra's gravity well. So why travel all the way to Mars and jump down a different gravity well? Once there, it's a complete reverse of economies-of-scale — nothing welcoming or profitable and little that can be easily got at if it's not near the surface. Nor can any condition be easily amended — gravity, radiation, atmosphere, etc. Might as well have stayed in space and created a manageable habitat with shirtsleeve conditions.
If, instead of either colonizing Mars or else the whole O'Neill concept, we want to focus on what might be practical within 3-4 decades – using tech anticipated to be ready, at guesstimated costs, to build one or more smallish tether habs located at LaGrange points rather than geosynchronous orbits (less space junk, for one thing) – then what do you offer [for the Gravity Wells panel]? The idea is to interest venture capitalists and launch-facility decision makers, and space enthusiasts generally, so as to get started with what can be done now – form an org, choose leaders, gather references and allies.
Governments and commercial interests will be exploiting Space how and where they will. The moon, Mars, ore-rich asteroids, fine. But, in the California Gold Rush, who ended up with the enduring wealth? The general store owners -- Main Street. We can do that.
Nightmares
Nightmares
Lifeboats. Humanity needs lifeboats. For if we trash our planet or get smacked by the next big asteroid. The human species is running the risk of extinction if — stupidly — we are not sustainably established in viable populations that could survive a disaster to Terra.
Less drastically, how well do you speak one or more Chinese languages? If only centrally planned nations can maintain consistent funding and eschew low bidders, then space navigation's lingua franca will not be English.
What if, once you built it, they came. They came to take it away from you.
What if, once you built it, they forced you to accept immigrants not of your choosing? And then they took it away from you.
Off-world infrastructure would need off-world support facilities
Off-world infrastructure would need off-world support facilities
New Delhi,UPDATED: Nov 10, 2025 12:20 IST
Last week, Google announced its big moonshot idea -- Project Suncatcher-- of building AI data centres in space, as Earth has limited resources. And it’s not just Google, companies like Starcloud, Lonestar Data Systems, and Axiom Space are also sketching out plans to build infrastructure for AI and machine learning beyond the planet to meet the continuous demand for energy and cooling. In orbit, machines can harness the sun’s energy directly, unlike earth where resources are limited and demand is more. But it isn’t only about infrastructure. Tech leaders are also openly talking about expanding human life beyond our planet. Or as Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos has earlier put it that there is no Plan B for Earth, and eventually humans will need to move beyond it.
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Last year, in a conversation at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Bezos said that while humanity has progressed in almost every quality-of-life metric, the natural world is the exception. “Almost everything is better today than it was,” he said, “except the environment.” With oceans, forests and ecosystems under stress, Bezos bluntly pointed out that Earth is the only one we have, and industrial expansion cannot keep pushing the planet’s limits.
“There is no Plan B. We have to save Earth,” he said. To continue human innovation without destroying the planet, Bezos has suggested that humans will one day need to shift heavy industry — including factories and data centres — away from Earth, starting with the Moon and orbital stations. The idea is that Earth should eventually be reserved mainly for living, while high-impact industry happens elsewhere.
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Of course, Google’s Project Suncatcher isn’t talking about opening server farms on the land of the moon, at least not yet. The company is simply testing whether running AI in orbit could ease energy pressure on Earth. Still, the plan is based on the broader vision of SIlicon Valley giants to tap into space for power and infrastructure so humanity can continue progressing without overwhelming the planet.
And the future conversation isn’t limited to data or industry. In fact, big-tech leaders are increasingly discussing the possibility that humans may one day live outside Earth altogether. Speaking at Italian Tech Week last month, Bezos said millions of people could be living in space by the 2040s, supported by AI systems and robots handling off-planet work. “In the next couple of decades, I believe there will be millions of people living in space,” he said, adding that many would do it simply because they want to — not because Earth has become unliveable.
Bezos isn’t alone. Other tech leaders share similarly ambitious views. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has predicted that future graduates could land high-paying jobs in space. Elon Musk believes humans will reach Mars by 2028, while companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX are building rockets, landers and orbital habitats. In their view, space isn’t an escape, it’s expansion.
- Ends
The Case for Space Settlement: Why Expanding Beyond Earth Will Benefit All Humanity — Ryan McLeod
The Case for Space Settlement: Why Expanding Beyond Earth Will Benefit All Humanity — Ryan McLeod
Humanity stands at a turning point. For the first time in history, the tools to live and work beyond our home planet are within reach. Over the next 20–50 years, building the first permanent communities in space will evolve from science fiction into a defining human achievement—one that brings immediate and lasting benefits to people on Earth. Space settlement is not simply an adventure or technological milestone; it is a powerful strategy for protecting our planet, advancing our capabilities, and securing a prosperous future for generations to come.
1. Protecting Earth Through Off-World Industry
1. Protecting Earth Through Off-World Industry
The most immediate benefit of space settlement is environmental relief. Much of the energy and industrial activity that damages Earth’s ecosystems can be shifted off-world.
Space offers abundant solar energy—continuous, unfiltered sunlight far stronger than what reaches the ground. Power stations in orbit or on the Moon could beam clean energy to Earth, replacing fossil fuels and reducing greenhouse gas emissions without compromising global energy demand.
As mining and manufacturing move into space, pollutants, heavy metals, and industrial waste need not burden Earth’s air, oceans, and soils. Asteroids contain vast stores of metals such as iron, nickel, platinum, and rare-earth elements. Extracting these resources in space reduces the need for destructive mining on Earth and minimizes the ecological footprint of essential technologies like batteries, electronics, and renewable energy systems.
Space settlements also enable large-scale manufacturing processes impossible within Earth’s gravity—such as growing perfect crystals, producing advanced pharmaceuticals, and fabricating high-efficiency materials. As these industries expand off-world, Earth can focus on becoming cleaner, greener, and more biodiverse.
2. A Sustainable Path for a Growing Humanity
2. A Sustainable Path for a Growing Humanity
Earth’s population and resource needs will continue to rise. Instead of pushing our planet past its limits, we can expand human presence outward.
Living beyond Earth allows us to build new settlements without clearing forests, draining wetlands, or consuming scarce land. Enormous space habitats—spinning structures that simulate gravity—can house millions of people while preserving Earth’s landscapes for nature and future generations.
By creating new spheres of human activity, space settlement reduces pressure on housing, agriculture, and infrastructure on Earth. This does not replace Earth as our home—it protects it by giving us room to breathe and grow responsibly.
3. Expanding Human Ingenuity and Opportunity
3. Expanding Human Ingenuity and Opportunity
Space settlement will inspire a new wave of creativity, education, and innovation. Just as the first satellites sparked the digital revolution, permanent space communities will drive breakthroughs in robotics, life-support systems, energy generation, biology, and human health.
These innovations will not remain in orbit. They will return to Earth, improving medicine, clean energy, food production, transportation, and climate resilience. Entirely new industries—space construction, off-world agriculture, orbital tourism, and interplanetary shipping—will create millions of jobs and reinvigorate economies.
For young people, space settlements will spark a renewed passion for science and engineering. A future in which ordinary citizens can contribute to life in space will expand educational opportunity and empower the next generation of problem-solvers.
4. Strengthening Planetary Security and Resilience
4. Strengthening Planetary Security and Resilience
The expansion into space enhances Earth’s safety. Settlement-driven infrastructure—improved launch systems, asteroid detection networks, and powerful space-based telescopes—will help defend our planet from natural threats.
Humanity becomes more resilient when it is not confined to a single world. Space settlements act as “backup sites” for civilization, ensuring that no single disaster—whether ecological, geological, or cosmic—can end our story. Protecting humanity’s long-term future is itself a moral responsibility, and space settlement is a practical step toward fulfilling it.
5. A New Frontier for Human Culture
5. A New Frontier for Human Culture
Beyond technology and economics, space settlement offers something deeper: a chance for humanity to rediscover its sense of possibility.
Just as great migrations opened new eras for our ancestors, the movement into space will create fresh cultural traditions, new forms of art, and new ways for people to connect across distance and diversity. Music, literature, architecture, and cuisine shaped by life among the stars will enrich all of human culture.
Space communities will remind us of our shared origins and shared destiny. Looking down at the fragile blue arc of Earth will strengthen our appreciation of its beauty and our desire to protect it. The experience of building something breathtaking together—an entire branch of human civilization—can bring nations and cultures closer in cooperation rather than conflict.
6. A Vision that Lifts Humanity
6. A Vision that Lifts Humanity
Space settlement is often framed as a distant dream, but the next 20–50 years will be transformative. Advances in reusable rockets, robotics, AI, and autonomous construction are rapidly lowering costs and multiplying our capabilities. Early settlements on the Moon and in orbit will pave the way for larger habitats, space-based energy, and off-world industry.
This future is not guaranteed; it must be chosen and built. But it is within reach—and the benefits begin long before the first million people live in space.
By committing to space settlement, humanity takes responsibility for its future. We relieve pressure on Earth, unlock vast clean energy resources, create economic prosperity, and protect our planet from harm. Just as importantly, we inspire ourselves to dream bigger, to collaborate more, and to reach higher.
Space settlement is not an escape from Earth. It is a commitment to Earth’s long-term health and to humanity’s shared potential.
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On Tue., Dec. 2, 2025, 1:52 p.m. <jrj@fidalgo.net> wrote:
I’m vastly impressed by your email and would like permission to use it in our website, which is being (slowly) constructed for the L4 Space Habitat Society. I shall be presenting for it at a few Science Fiction & Fantasy conventions next year.
If you are interested in our goals, perhaps we could send you links and an invitation.
Judy R. Johnson
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Ryan Mcleod
Sounds good to me. Feel free to go ahead and use it. If you’d like, I can also create:
a shorter public-facing summary,
a graphic or infographic,
talking points for speeches,
or a version focused specifically on environmental or economic benefits.
Gerald D. Nordley <gdnordley@aol.com>
Gerald D. Nordley <gdnordley@aol.com>
Medium-sized Hab
Medium-sized Hab
C. Sanford Lowe (Candy, who wrote the Black Hole Project with me) and I have written the first of a planned trilogy of young adult aimed novels set at a time where the Moon and the Lagrange point colonies are becoming restive about being run from Earth. The first novel is called The Boy with the Golden Wings and concerns a young ornithropter pilot who goes to the L4 Colony "Vittoria" (named for Lagrange's first wife) to race and becomes involved with the increasing independence of the settlement. I've attached a cutaway visualization of the colony and a map that we're using to keep locations straight.
C. Sanford Lowe (Candy, who wrote the Black Hole Project with me) and I have written the first of a planned trilogy of young adult aimed novels set at a time where the Moon and the Lagrange point colonies are becoming restive about being run from Earth. The first novel is called The Boy with the Golden Wings and concerns a young ornithropter pilot who goes to the L4 Colony "Vittoria" (named for Lagrange's first wife) to race and becomes involved with the increasing independence of the settlement. I've attached a cutaway visualization of the colony and a map that we're using to keep locations straight.
It's about 10 km long and 5 km in diameter at its greatest width. It's basically made by robots out of processed lunar regolith.
It's about 10 km long and 5 km in diameter at its greatest width. It's basically made by robots out of processed lunar regolith.
Vittoria Map
Vittoria Map
Gerry – I’ve lost the email where you defended this medium-sized hab as being practical not that much later than our smaller ones due to robotics and such. Can you repeat that text or something like it? I will put it into the website beside the Vittoria map. Meanwhile, I’ll put this plea into the text box.
Judy
Hibbard - WhatsApp Video 2025-08-30 at 01.10.06_64b2aed3.mp4Example of Chats Discussions
In orbital energy terms, is it more delta-vee to launch from Earth to LEO versus bringing a NEO into Earth orbit? Which is the lowest delta-vee NEO which might be worth capturing ? <This message was edited>
[8/29/25, 09:15:35] ~ Adam Hibberd: Not sure whether this is entirely what you are asking for but has some relevance to your question. I have loads of research on my computer which has not ever been written up in a paper. The attached is an example and shows the DeltaV needed to get from LEO to a database of 29,333 NEAs (the 'NEA' may be a misnomer as I may have included objects which aren't asteroids, however from an astrodynamical viewpoint this is irrelevant).
[8/29/25, 10:29:28] Judy R Johnson: Why LEO and not further out? Most materials gathered from other asteroids. Compromise between that and whatever must come up from Terra.
Preliminary financial projections
Preliminary financial projections
5000 person habitat rough projections.pdfprototype rough projections 22sep25.pdfL4 - Manju -- 22sep25
As an attempt to contribute to the discussion, I asked an AI to create high-level financial projections. For a 5000 person habitat, it says 44 years to breakeven with an approximate $2T investment, for a 50 person prototype, it thinks we can breakeven at year 18 with an investment of just $50B (just as a comp. ISS took $150B and Hubble came in at $20B). I’ll attach both presentations here. Please note that this is not at all to suggest we use these, but to show that it is already remarkably easy to spin up high-level projections (and simple websites), and will likely become increasingly so. We need both of course, but I found myself wondering how we might stand apart.
The main differentiator between an O’Neill type habitat from space stations (currently being designed by those with deep pockets and larger ambitions ...) is that O’Neill envisioned the habitat as the kind of comfortable place that would attract people of all ages and walks of life, including those who are looking to raise families. A large part of that (I think) is artificial gravity and also to a lesser degree, large see-through windows through which natural sunlight could be reflected, to simulate an Earth day.
We’d still need to figure out how to monetize the prototype, and the broad categories include as mentioned, space tourism, R&D, supply and fuel depot (way-stations for lunar, Mars, asteroid mining missions etc.), data as a service?, public/private partnerships etc.
See also: "Sea and Space Laws" by Manjula Menon — https://amazingstories.com/2024/03/sea-and-space-laws/
See also: "Sea and Space Laws" by Manjula Menon — https://amazingstories.com/2024/03/sea-and-space-laws/
stuff here 🚧
stuff here 🚧
lots more on several carrousels
L4 Society Governing Documents 🚧
L4 Society Governing Documents 🚧
(Only a beginning, so far, for discussion -- suggestions welcome from whomever)
Statement of principles
Statement of principles
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18J_osfDzesBJBA7hv4xHAjEUxMWWAtRThFZ_hFICs9w/edit?usp=drive_link
Business Plan
Bylaws (draft, to be amended for L4 use)
Bylaws (draft, to be amended for L4 use)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/191jiiETzptm4U2-zCqWxtNE0roBRrk6I/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=111483084334629828543&rtpof=true&sd=true
Incorporation
Incorporation
Board of Directors
https://www.sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities/nonprofits-charities/charities/all-forms
Useful Links
Useful Links
🚧 (Many more to come)
Membership List
Membership List
Membership Application
Membership Application
Other organizations of interest
Other organizations of interest
https://spacedevelopmentsteeringcommittee.org/
https://www.spacefoundation.org
https://www.spinlaunch.com/
Blue Marble Space Institute of Science
References of interest
References of interest
https://amazingstories.com/2024/03/sea-and-space-laws/
https://impactful.ninja/best-charities-for-space-exploration/
https://www.g2.com/products/cause-iq/reviews
Shirtsleeve Conditions a must
Shirtsleeve Conditions a must
Lois McMaster Bujold: “…It’s all tech-driven, underneath; history consists of advancing tech arm-wrestling with primate biology.”
Credit: Seattle Worldcon 2025
Background
Background
Originally composed for a WorldCon panel, to be included in the GuideBook – Seattlein2025
Who Needs Gravity Wells? (...Might as well have stayed in space and created a manageable habitat with shirtsleeve conditions. )
Who Needs Gravity Wells? (...Might as well have stayed in space and created a manageable habitat with shirtsleeve conditions. )
Before the con, the panelists exchanged emails, and here are some of the comments.
Quotes (lightly edited, in pre-panel emails):
Quotes (lightly edited, in pre-panel emails):
Quotes (lightly edited, in pre-panel emails):
Lois McMaster Bujold (not a panel member): “…It’s all tech-driven, underneath; history consists of advancing tech arm-wrestling with primate biology.”
Manjula Menon (Panelist, in a pre-con email):
For this panel, I found O'Neill's "islands in Space" as described in his High Frontier particularly relevant. Notably, everything O'Neill proposed was framed through the lens of commercial viability.
To highlight just a few things, O'Neill's model for a habitat was the attractive "Island 3" that he envisioned in L5 as comfortable, family-friendly environment, a “moderate sized habitat” ~ "diameter of four miles, a length of twenty miles, and a total land area of five hundred square miles, supporting a population of several million people" providing an earth like environment including gravity, water, land, air, natural sunshine. Large rotating (to simulate gravity) cylinder with windows outside of which are positioned mirrors that reflect sunlight to simulate an earth-day, including sunrise, sunset, a night filed with stars. The habitat would feature valley areas, mountains, villages with populations in the tens of thousands, lakes, forests, metropolises with populations in the hundreds of thousands to millions. Other small cylinders outside of Island 3 in close proximity designed to grow crops. A thriving economy supported by zero-g industry, asteroid and lunar mining operations. Mag-lev enabled transportation options, "magneplanes", "travelspheres", "commuterspheres". Etc. etc. etc. (this was a richly detailed design)
AK Llyr (Panelist, in a pre-con email):
I think the size of the O'Neil habitat is beyond current Materials science.
Skipping that, I definitely see where moving any substantial materials from a planetary gravity well is so far beyond our current science that it is more fantasy than Sci-Fi even.
Peter Glaskowsky (Panelist, in a pre-con email):
I think the panel shouldn't be primarily about the hardware; what to do up there is more interesting to me, but the hardware imposes limits on what can be done.
Gideon Marcus (Panelist, in a pre-con email):
As I like to tell my students, the analog is not Columbus sailing off to the New World. It's asking Columbus to sail to the middle of the Atlantic and build a city there.
Gerald D. Nordley (Panelist, in a pre-con email):
My argument is that large "O'Neill habitats can, and probably will be, made by construction robots that can copy themselves as well as "print" out and assemble what they need. mainly from lunar regolith, and that the time frame for this is in the 2070s or so, maybe sooner. The construction crews will probably telecommute except for a few people who really want to be out there. My guess is that these will probably be financed as a real estate operation.
Medium habitat design by Gerry Nordley and Candy Lowe (images available upon request)
Ten km, end to end. Max capacity about a couple of million, comfortable living for, say 200,000. Whatever category you want to call that. It will need to import water and air periodically to make up for leaks and other losses, otherwise, with robotic labor, essentially self-sufficient.
Judy Johnson (Moderator, pre-panel email, edited):
Judy Johnson (Moderator, pre-panel email, edited):
If instead of the O’Neill concept we want to focus on what might be practical within 3-4 decades...
Please look at my HomeTown presentation and see if that seems more useful than planetary chauvinism. And, a much smaller starter version would be even better. For the purposes of my novel, I designed originally for a small city of 1000 to 2000 population, but the concepts would work equally well for a population of 50-100 people.
Gerry gave me the most help with the gravity/tether/twirl physics, and lately I tried to get the people who helped me with the original CAD/CAM to do it again now for a smaller version, with no success. Still looking, and willing to pay for this. Also want to present a design for a spaceship to prospect for useful asteroids.
Among the many things the O’Neill Summer Institute achieved was to figure the basic parameters such as cubic needed of agriculture per human for food and air-renewal. All can be shifted and modernized but it’s a start, a reference.
Mainly, I intend that every surface inside will support something green and growing, and every basic mecon will have a basement and attic devoted to crops, tended by little robots roving through the pipes under the walkways. No large agricultural fields. Sunlight from reflectors into the dome is guided everywhere within using fiber optic cabling, a passive light source.
Background for HomeTown (WIP title “Enuf”)
Here's the chart I was looking for from the Summer Study, below; it's based on the O'Neil L5 settlement studies and their population, but it's all well hashed over and nobody argues with their figures much.
TABLE 3-4.- SUMMARY OF QUANTITATIVE ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN CRITERIA
Population: men, women, children = 10,000
Community and residential projected area per person, m^2 47
Agriculture, projected area per person, m^2 20
Community and residential, volume per person, m^3 823
Agriculture, volume per person, m^3 915
So, using the formula from Wikipedia, figure the volume of habitat if its radius is 250m. Then divide by total volume (823+915) to get possible population.
Maximum possible pop. = 37658
It’s way more than I’d want to put into the actual habitat, because would need to sell surplus production for foreign exchange. But villains will want to cram even more people in. And therein lies the plot.
How it all began
How it all began
Judy Johnson:
To my surprise, my novel's worldbuilding effort turned out a reasonably practical scenario, achievable not all that far in the future. Please review the HomeTown presentation, below.
For decades, I hesitated to push my "vanity project" but, when I finally did, at various SF&F conventions and a University of Washington Space-Design class presentation, nobody came up with a showstopper. So I started speaking up and wanting to know why there wasn't more Research & Development along these lines, especially with regard to tether-spin-gravity. Finally, a few people expressed interest, and the L4 Space-Habitat Society started the involved process of becoming an actual organization.
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