TechTheMoon

TechTheMoon is described as the world's first incubator dedicated 100% to the Moon, launched in 2021 by the French space agency CNES and the Toulouse-based incubator Nubbo. Based at the La Cité startup campus in Toulouse and backed by CNES's Connect by CNES and Spaceship France programmes, it runs a 12-month incubation track for entrepreneurs creating solutions, technologies, products and services that address the challenges of a sustainable human presence on the Moon.

The programme is structured around three strategic themes: Resources (identifying and extracting lunar resources, including for energy production), Infrastructure (designing autonomous, sustainable habitats and base-camp systems for the lunar surface), and Life Support (mitigating the health risks faced by crews during extended stays on the Moon). Selected startups gain access to CNES technical expertise, patents, software and space data, alongside Nubbo's market and commercialisation support, with the stated goal of building a new Earth-Moon commercial ecosystem.

Since its first cohort of five startups in October 2021, TechTheMoon has expanded nationally: in 2024 it added partnerships with eight regional incubators and technopoles (including Atlanpole, BIC Montpellier, ESTIA Entreprendre, IncubAlliance Paris-Saclay, Incubateur Provence Côte d'Azur, ISU, Technopole Brest Iroise and Technopole de la Réunion), bringing the total network to nine partner incubators covering the whole of France. TechTheMoon itself does not manufacture hardware; it is an incubation and acceleration programme for third-party lunar-economy startups.