Low-Earth Orbit -> Low Lunar Orbit: 1.31km/s Low Lunar Orbit -> Lunar surface: 2.74km/s Lunar surface -> Low Lunar Orbit: 2.74km/s Total: 6.8km/s That's mor

Low-Earth Orbit -> Low Lunar Orbit: 1.31km/s Low Lunar Orbit -> Lunar surface: 2.74km/s Lunar surface -> Low Lunar Orbit: 2.74km/s Total: 6.8km/s That's more delta-V than a straight flight to Mars, which is between 4 and 5km/s, depending on trajectory. If the Moon were made of fuel, it would still not make sense to land there and take off again. This scenario describes setting up a Moon base and then shoot fuel into LEO (either directly, or with an electromagnetic catapult). From LEO, the fuel is indeed useful, but the industrial infrastructure may be excessive unless you're talking... low-hundreds of launches?