NASA is giving ICON $57.2 million to develop a 3D-printed construct on the Moon

anyway icon Known for its 3D-printed construction projects here on Earth, the company also heads to the stars. In a recent press release, the company announced that NASA has awarded ICON $57.2 million to develop a lunar surface construction system. This latest award is in addition to previous funding from NASA and the Department of Defense for ICON’s Project Olympus, which aims to research and develop building systems using 3D printing Based in space to explore the moon. It is expected to be humanity’s first construction on another planetary body.

For some time, NASA has been considering the possibility of not only going into space, but also live in it. To do this, you must first develop innovative technologies that will make it viable. As expected, additive manufacturing was one of the highlights, especially for building in space. There are many ongoing projects that aim to allow for 3D printing of buildings on the Moon and Mars in the next years. In fact, with the program Artemis, which was successfully launched recently, the moon is scheduled to be the first space site for sustainable exploration on the surface. A project that requires a sustainable presence on site.

Jason Ballard, co-founder and CEO of ICON, emphasized the importance of innovation, especially through 3D printing, for this project. “To change the representation of space exploration from a ’round trip’ to a ‘here to stay’, we will need robust and flexible systems capable of large-scale use of the local resources of the Moon and other planetary bodies. We are pleased that our research and engineering to date has shown that such systems are possible Indeed, and we look forward to making that possibility a reality. The end result of this decade will be humanity’s first construction on another world, and it will be quite a special achievement.”

3D printed building on the moon

But what exactly can we expect from this project? For now, the plan appears to be for ICON to take its advanced hardware and software into space via a simulated lunar gravity flight. In addition, the company will work with samples of lunar regolith returned from the Apollo missions to determine their mechanical behavior under simulated lunar gravity. These various tests will be key to understanding how to create future approaches to building the moon, as well as doing the same for the space community as a whole. Their goal is to create the critical infrastructure needed for a sustainable lunar economy, including, of course, long-term habitability on the lunar surface, but also landing pads, blast shields, and roads.

As the goal is to establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface, the robust infrastructure required will need to provide increased protection for heat, radiation, and micro-atmospheres. Therefore, the company favors a “live off Earth” approach that will emphasize the use of original materials from the Moon. Ultimately, the goal is to transform humanity into a space-faring civilization. Niki Werkheiser, director of technology maturity for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, concluded: “To explore other worlds, we need innovative new technologies designed to suit those environments and our exploration needs. Fostering this development with our commercial partners will create the capabilities we need for future missions.” You can get more information over here.

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*All image credits: ICON