  Numerous missions planned for the next decade are likely to target a handful
of smal sites of interest on the Moon's surface, creating risks of crowding and
interference at these locations. The Moon presents finite and scarce areas with
rare topography or concentrations of resources of special value. Locations of
interest to science, notably for astronomy, include the Peaks of Eternal Light,
the coldest of the cold traps and smooth areas on the far side. Regions richest
in physical resources could also be uniquely suited to settlement and commerce.
Such sites of interest are both few and small. Typically, there are fewer than
ten key sites of each type, each site spanning a few kilometres across. We
survey the implications for different kins of mission and find that the diverse
actors pursuing incomptible ends at these sites could soon crowd and interfere
with each other, leaving almost all actors worse off. Without proactive
measures to prevent these outcomes, lunar actors are likely to experience
significant losses of opportunity. We highlight the legal, policy, and ethical
ramifications. Insights from research on comparable sites on Earth present a
path toward managing lunar crowding and interference grounded in ethical and
practical near-term considerations. This article is part of a discussion
meeting issue 'Astronomy from the Moon: the next decades'.
