ICON will 3D print infrastructure on the Moon

Space exploration has long been an unreachable dream for humankind. However, with technologies constantly advancing, science fiction is closer to becoming our new reality than ever. Today, ICON, an American startup specializing in advanced construction technologies, has announced that it was awarded a government contract – including funding from NASA – to begin research and development of a system that would enable additive construction in space, more precisely, on the Moon.

For ICON, the journey to transform the construction sector began with the delivery of the first permitted 3D printed house in the US, back in 2018. Since then, the team has broken ground on the world’s first 3D printed community in Mexico, completed a series of homes serving the chronically homeless in Austin, Texas and forged a partnership with the United States Marine Corps and the Defense Innovation Unit. From those initiatives, one might conclude that ICON is rather keen on launching very ambitious projects. Their new mission? To make humanity a spacefaring civilization.

Image credits: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Project Olympus: building a presence on the Moon

NASA has signaled that, through the Artemis program, the Moon will be the first off-Earth site for sustainable surface exploration. Building a presence on the Moon requires more than rockets: for a permanent lunar presence to exist, robust structures will need to be built on the Moon that provide better thermal, radiation, and micrometeorite protection than metal or inflatable habitats can provide. From landing pads to habitats, these collective efforts are driven by the need to make humanity a spacefaring civilization.