THE ARTEMIS PROJECT
PRIVATE ENTERPRISE ON THE MOON
Legal and Political Issues
Section 3.5.
Home Tour Join! Contents Team News Catalog Search Comm

Artemis Society International and The Lunar Resources Company

Artemis Society International and The Lunar Resources Company are separate, independent organizations, with different goals and purposes.

Obviously, everyone involved in both organizations is devoted to building this lunar base, and many of the people involved in Artemis Society International are also part of The Lunar Resources Company.

Artemis Society International

Artemis Society International is a non-profit scientific and educational foundation incorporated in the state of Alabama.

The role of Artemis Society International in the Artemis Project is to provide a meeting ground for everyone interested in the program. ASI is also the primary educational institution and training ground for the Artemis Project, and conducts basic research in all areas of the program.

While Artemis Society International is a membership organization, open to anyone who wants to participate in the Artemis Project, it is not a political organization. If you want to be an amateur politician, there are many fine organizations available to you; however, this is not one of them. If you want to be a part of establishing a foothold for mankind in the realm beyond the sky, then you've found the right place. ASI's purpose is to play its role in establishing a permanent, self-supporting lunar community.

The Lunar Resources Company

The Lunar Resources Company is a privately held Texas corporation. The company started the Artemis Project, founded Artemis Society International and provided the initial financing to get it going, and underwrote ASI's debts until ASI got on its feet independently.

The company's role in the Artemis Project, like every other company participating in this program, is to conduct commercial business which will result in revenues that finance the space flight. We do that through donations as well as producing licensed products and conducting other commercial ventures related to the Artemis Project.

The Lunar Resources Company currently has several items of collectable merchandise on the market, including the Moonbase Artemis line of coffee mugs, T-shirts, and such. The things, along with other space-related merchandise, are carried in the Lunar Traders catalog. Lunar Traders is a division of The Lunar Resources Company, and the company that operates the on-line catalog and mail-order business is a franchise owned by Tim Cadell. In the long run, the company plans to develop commercial enterprises on the moon; but we have to get there first.

The whole point of starting The Lunar Resources Company was to demonstrate that commercial business can earn a profit while providing financial support to the lunar development project. The role of private enterprise in this project is vital -- without it, we cannot garner the economic power needed to do it. We don't hide the fact that we formed this company because we want a moon base, but we also acknowledge that we have to provide a good return to the stockholders -- better than they'd get from investing in other ventures -- or we haven't succeeded.

The Lunar Resources Company does not plan to be the company who actually builds the spacecraft. That's a job better done by an established aerospace company, someone with the expertise on board and processes in place to do it right the first time. Instead, The Lunar Resources Company serves as the program integrator for the Artemis Project.

The Lunar Resources Company has 13 stockholders, of whom three (Greg Bennett, Ian Strock, and Dana Carson) volunteered to serve on the ASI Board of Directors.

None of the revenues of the Artemis Society go to The Lunar Resources Company, though in the past the company has provided -- at cost -- some of the Society's material.

Many other commercial companies, which may earn profits from the Artemis Project, are actively involved in support of the Artemis Society. See section 10 of the Artemis Data Book for a more about them.

You'll see the phrase "The Artemis Project is a trademark of The Lunar Resources Company" on a lot of literature. That's a fact; The Lunar Resources Company established the trademark long before we started the Artemis Society. The Society uses the trademark with the permission of the company, as defined in the Society's charter. You can read Artemis Society International's charter and other important legal paperwork in section 6.2 of the Artemis Data Book.

Legal and Political Issues

Home Tour Join! Contents Team News Catalog Search Comm
ASI W9600259r1.3. Copyright © 2004 Artemis Society International, for the contributors. All rights reserved.
This web site contains many trade names and copyrighted articles and images. Refer to the copyright page for terms of use.
Maintained by ASI Web Team <asi-web@asi.org>.
Submit update to this page. Maintained with WebSite Director. Updated Sat, Oct 2, 1999.