Because the moon is airless, there is a cheaper alternative, in my opinion. Picture a space station that circles the moon in an eccentric orbit that dips down to within a kilometer or two of the surface at apogee. It twirls a long cable in a direction opposite to its orbital path. That is, when the cable is closest to the moon, the lower end of it is moving in the opposite direction to the station's orbit, cancelling out the orbital motion of the station. With a little agility, it would be possible to have the end of the cable come to a point of zero motion relative to the moon at the moment of contact with the moon's surface, making it possible to set down a load gently. Loads could be picked up in the same way. The station varies its orbit by shooting rocks with a mass driver. Each upcomming load would include some more rocks.
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Because the moon is airless, there is a cheaper alternative, in my opinion. Picture a space station that circles the moon in an eccentric orbit that dips down to within a kilometer or two of the surface at apogee. It twirls a long cable in a direction opposite to its orbital path. That is, when the cable is closest to the moon, the lower end of it is moving in the opposite direction to the station's orbit, cancelling out the orbital motion of the station. With a little agility, it would be possible to have the end of the cable come to a point of zero motion relative to the moon at the moment of contact with the moon's surface, making it possible to set down a load gently. Loads could be picked up in the same way. The station varies its orbit by shooting rocks with a mass driver. Each upcomming load would include some more rocks.