We report on laboratory experiments to shed light on dust charging and transport that have been suggested to explain a variety of unusual phenomena on the surfaces of airless planetary bodies. We have recorded micron‐sized insulating dust particles jumping to several centimeters high with an initial speed of ~0.6 m/s under ultraviolet illumination or exposure to plasmas, resulting in an equivalent height of ~0.11 m on the lunar surface that is comparable to the height of the so‐called lunar horizon glow. Lofted large aggregates and surface mobilization are related to many space observations. We experimentally show that the emission and re‐absorption of photoelectron and/or secondary electron at the walls of microcavities formed between neighboring dust particles below the surface are responsible for generating unexpectedly large negative charges and intense particle‐particle repulsive forces to mobilize and lift off dust particles.

Interactions of the solar wind and emitted photoelectrons with airless bodies have been studied extensively. However, the details of how charged particles interact with the regolith at the scale of a single grain have remained largely uncharacterized. Recent efforts have focused upon determining total surface charge under photoemission and solar wind bombardment and the associated electric field and potential. In this work, theory and simulations are used to show that grain‐grain charge differences can exceed classical sheath predictions by several orders of magnitude, sometimes reaching dielectric breakdown levels. Temperature‐dependent electrical conductivity works against supercharging by allowing current to leak through individual grains; the balance between internal conduction and surface charging controls the maximum possible grain‐to‐grain electric field. Understanding the finer details of regolith grain charging, conductive equilibrium, and dielectric breakdown will improve future numerical studies of space weathering and dust levitation on airless bodies.