A lunar pizza outpost is a costly pie-in-the-sky goal, given the logistics

The great plus point in considering a pizza outpost on the moon (besides first mover advantage) is the guarantee of no traffic jams and therefore no danger of having to let late deliveries be free of charge. Indeed, such a benefit may quite outweigh any concern that the moon’s lack of atmosphere would impact the taste of their patrons’ favourite tomato ’n cheese topped dough base. But chances of a quick break-even by charging premium prices for moon pies are dim as the cost of an outlet would be considerably higher than in most places on earth: around $22 billion, according to estimates for a lunar pizza store revealed in a new promotional campaign by the Japanese branch of Domino’s .

Nor is there any guarantee that there will be a steady rise in clientele (or the pool of potential employees), as location does matter and so far permanent residents have been few and far between. Yet, identifying new markets are undeniably crucial to any business. As Pizza Hut had eclipsed its rival a decade ago by express delivering a salami pizza to a Russian cosmonaut via a cargo rocket for a total bill of around $1 million (no promotional discount coupons applied), Domino’s clearly had to aim higher and think long term.

In the beginning, an eat-in outlet would definitely draw in jaded astronauts on shore (moon) leave, but eventually using it as the hub for deliveries to Mars and beyond would save precious days, if not light years in the future. By not giving a deadline for the opening of the first outlet, though, Domino’s has betrayed its concern about the lack of basic infrastructure up there — such as gravity and oxygen — and costly logistics involved , including dealing with prank pizza orders and those recipients who do not pay up, much less tip the delivery boy, citing an inaccurate atomic clock.