Apollo astronaut on the lunar surface beside the lunar module
In-Situ Resource Utilization

Building from the Moon

Sintered regolith bricks with >30 MPa compressive strength. Radiation shielding equivalent to 2 meters of lunar soil. 500 kg/day from a single mobile production unit. No launch mass required.

Compressive Strength >30 MPa
Production Rate 500 kg/day
Mass Savings per Mission 94 %
Radiation Attenuation <500 mSv/yr
01 — Material Science

Lunar Regolith Composition

Highland regolith is a natural construction feedstock. Our sintering process exploits the oxide composition to produce vitrified bricks without binders or imported materials.

Oxide Mineral Name wt%
SiO2 Silicon Dioxide 45.0
Al2O3 Aluminum Oxide 15.0
FeO Iron(II) Oxide 12.0
CaO Calcium Oxide 11.5
MgO Magnesium Oxide 9.5
TiO2 Titanium Dioxide 3.5

Sintering Parameters

Peak temperature 1,100 °C
Hold duration 4.0 h
Ramp rate 5 °C/min
Atmosphere Vacuum (10⁻⁶ torr)
Compaction pressure 25 MPa
Grain size target < 75 μm
Energy source Solar concentrator
02 — Production Pipeline

From Regolith to Habitat

Four autonomous stages transform raw lunar soil into structural-grade building blocks. Each mobile unit operates on solar power with zero consumable supply chain.

01

Excavation

Bucket-drum collector harvests loose regolith from the top 30 cm of lunar surface. Targets particle sizes below 1 mm.

Throughput: 2,400 kg/day
02

Beneficiation

Electrostatic separation removes metallic iron particles and sorts by grain size. Sub-75 μm fraction proceeds to sintering.

Yield: 68% of excavated mass
03

Sintering

Solar-concentrated heat fuses regolith grains at 1,100 °C in vacuum. No binders. Produces vitrified ceramic with compressive strength exceeding 30 MPa.

Cycle time: 6 h per batch
04

Fabrication

Robotic arm positions sintered blocks in interlocking patterns. Autonomous placement with ±2 mm precision using lidar-guided positioning.

Placement rate: 48 blocks/day
Detailed view of the full moon showing craters and surface features
"Every kilogram not launched from Earth is a million dollars saved."
Artemis Structures Mission Rationale
03 — Structural Verification

Test Results

JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant tested under NASA STD-5001B structural requirements. All primary load cases exceed minimum thresholds by >40%.

Test Case Result Threshold Status
Uniaxial compression 34.2 MPa >30 MPa Pass
Flexural strength 8.7 MPa >5 MPa Exceed
Thermal cycling (−173 to 127 °C) 0.03% loss <1% loss Exceed
Micrometeorite impact (1 g @ 1 km/s) 2.1 mm depth <5 mm Exceed
Vacuum outgassing (TML) 0.08% <1.0% Pass
Abrasion resistance (Taber) 12 mg loss <25 mg Exceed

Radiation Shielding

Annual dose comparison — NASA career limit: 600 mSv

Unshielded lunar surface 380 mSv/yr
1 m regolith wall 120 mSv/yr
2 m sintered brick wall 18 mSv/yr
ISS (reference) 150 mSv/yr
04 — Mission Roadmap

Path to Permanent Presence

Three mission phases transition from technology demonstration to permanent crewed habitat. Each phase builds on validated hardware from the previous.

2024 — 2026
Precursor: Earth Analog
Full-scale sintering and fabrication system tested with JSC-1A simulant in vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center. 200+ bricks produced. Structural qualification complete.
TRL 5 JSC Vacuum Chamber 200+ test articles
2027 — 2029
Demonstrator: Lunar Surface
First mobile production unit delivered to Shackleton Crater rim via commercial lunar lander. Autonomous operation for 180 days. Target: produce 50 tonnes of structural-grade regolith blocks.
TRL 7 target CLPS delivery 50 t production goal
2030 — 2033
Habitat: Crew-Rated Structure
Multi-unit construction of pressurized habitat module supporting 4-person crew for long-duration stays. Integrated radiation shielding, thermal regulation, and airlock interfaces. Designed for 20-year operational life.
TRL 9 target 4-person crew capacity 20-year design life
05 — Mission Economics

The Mass Equation

At current launch costs, every kilogram to the lunar surface costs approximately $1M. ISRU construction eliminates >94% of structural mass from the launch manifest.

Earth-launched habitat structure 120,000 kg
$120B
ISRU production unit + operations 6,800 kg
$6.8B

Production Unit Specifications

Total system mass 4,200 kg
Power requirement 25 kWe
Daily output 500 kg
Operational lifetime 10 yrs
Maintenance cycle 180 days
Autonomy level L4 (supervised)