Industrializing the Moon: opportunities for Swiss companies

Context

TL;DR

• The Swiss space industry generates approximately 330 million francs
• The sector brings together approximately 120 companies and nearly 3000 employees
• Artemis is preparing a lasting human presence on the Moon
• The lunar economy could be worth 343-566 billion by 2050

Key facts

• Space revenue → approximately 330 million francs
• Active companies → approximately 120
• Employees → nearly 3000
• Increase in Beyond Gravity's turnover in 2025 → 12%
• Estimated lunar economy in 2050 → 343-566 billion dollars

The Swiss space industry is preparing for the industrialization of the Moon. According to Keystone-ATS, the industry generates approximately 330 million francs in revenue; including the scientific sector, the total reaches 400-600 million. There are approximately 120 active companies, and the sector employs nearly 3000 people. Swissmem, the association of the technology industry, describes the market as still young but growing strongly.

A presence already integrated into European programs

The Swiss Confederation is Europe's sixth space power and the seventh-largest contributor to the ESA, of which it is a founding member. Didier Manzoni, deputy director general of Apco Technologies, emphasizes that no European mission flies without important equipment manufactured in Switzerland. The company, based in Aigle (VD), has supplied equipment for the Orion spacecraft of the Artemis mission, the Ariane 6 rocket and all ESA programs, including ExoMars's Mars rover. The value of orders and the group's revenue remain confidential, while Manzoni describes the latter as increasing.

NASA's Artemis program, which aims for a lasting human presence around and on the Moon, also involves Beyond Gravity, a subsidiary of Ruag International. For Orion, the group developed solar-panel orientation mechanisms. Its turnover, adjusted for the effects of divestments, increased by 12% in 2025, reaching 402 million francs; the Zurich-based group is investing in expanding production capabilities at several sites.

EPFL is also a starting point for this industrial trajectory. Emmanuelle David, director of the EPFL Space Center, notes that investment in the lunar market is increasing. Pave Space, a start-up born out of EPFL and founded in 2024, raised approximately 40 million dollars in the spring, equivalent to 33 million francs, to develop vehicles intended to accelerate the deployment of satellites into orbit. David considers the fundraising one of the most significant in the European space sector.

The transition from already-developed technology to a lunar presence remains the common thread: companies are now working on equipment and vehicles, while the Moon is identified as a future frontier.

Operational details

From the Artemis program to a supply chain with different timelines

Two time horizons for businesses and workers

For those who live or work in Switzerland, the decisive distinction is between the space economy that is already active and lunar industrialization that has yet to be built. The contracts mentioned concern equipment, mechanisms, life-support systems and energy transfer. They do not yet describe resource extraction on the Moon. Manzoni places industrial exploitation several decades away, while Sirin Orbital Systems points out that the contracts signed so far are limited.

This time gap changes how businesses and workers interpret the situation. Matteo Madi expects strong demand growth by the end of the decade, linking it to the successful launches of major operators such as SpaceX's Starship. Deloitte's analysis, published at the end of August, instead measures the potential by 2050. These are two different time horizons: demand growth over the decade and long-term economic scale.

The estimates do not concern a single sector. Infrastructure for living and working on the Moon includes transport, energy, communications, mobility, construction and life-support systems. In a scenario of accelerated growth, this first market would be worth 282 billion dollars by 2050. Once the basic infrastructure has been created, national security, data and lunar services, new resources and materials, and production in space would add 284 billion.

For Switzerland, the practical point is its position in the technology chain. Apco, Beyond Gravity, Sirin and Pave Space are cited for equipment, panel orientation, life support, energy and vehicles. Those who want to monitor the employment side can consult the annunci di lavoro, separating activities that have already been developed from prospects dependent on future space programs.

The Artemis Accords also have a specific function. Launched in 2020 on the initiative of NASA and the United States and signed by several countries, including Switzerland, they lay the foundations for the exploration and exploitation of resources on the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies. The principle cited by the source allows the extraction and use of resources without national appropriation: it is a framework for future activity, not an indicated start date.

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Key points

From news to a concrete fact-check

To turn the news into a concrete fact-check, it is useful to follow an order that separates data, companies and timelines. The point is not to treat the Moon as an already mature market, but to understand which Swiss technologies are already linked to space programs and which depend on future developments.

Four operational steps

1. Start with verifiable activities. Apco Technologies is linked to Orion, Ariane 6, ESA programs and ExoMars; Beyond Gravity to Orion; Sirin Orbital Systems to life-support systems and wireless energy transfer; Pave Space to vehicles intended to place satellites into orbit.

2. Separate technology from exploitation. The source describes solutions to make survival and energy distribution possible; it does not yet present operational industrial activities on the lunar surface. This distinction prevents every investment from being interpreted as extraction already underway.

3. Use the right time horizons. The end of the decade is the reference indicated by Sirin for demand growth; 2050 is the year in Deloitte's estimates; Manzoni speaks of several decades for exploitation. These are different reference points, not a single deadline.

4. Check the employment angle. Anyone considering a career change can explore the aziende che assumono and compare the available positions, without automatically attributing a lunar outlook to every role.

To assess a report on resource use, the next check is the institutional reference mentioned in the article: the Artemis Accords, launched in 2020 and also signed by Switzerland. Their principle allows extraction and use without national appropriation; however, the source does not present them as a timetable for the start of industrial activities on the Moon. This distinction helps avoid confusing an international framework with an activity already underway.

To check the location and type of activity, the source identifies Aigle (VD) for Apco, Zurich for Beyond Gravity and Sirin, and EPFL's Space Center in Lausanne as the scientific reference. The same analysis identifies the lunar south pole as a likely area for initial activities, thanks to the presence of ice, prolonged exposure to the sun and strategic terrain.

The numbers must then be kept separate: revenue, employees, capital raised and estimates of the lunar economy measure different aspects. The text does not quantify individual salaries. For a personal income check, use the calcolatore stipendio.

Source: swissinfo.ch