Stunning Nasa-backed space homes that will be ‘printed’ by giant robots so humans can live on brutal Moon surface

NASA astronauts of the future could live inside space homes built by giant 3D-printing robots.

These robots would be part of Project Olympus, which hopes to construct buildings on the Moon and eventually Mars.

Importantly, they'd use local resources – building with lunar rock, rather than shipping heavy materials across space from Earth.

It's the brainchild of Texas-based 3D-printing company Icon, which has received millions of dollars in funding from Nasa.

The plans to build giant space homes from lunar rock won a contract from Nasa in 2020, and is valued at around $60 million.

"In order to explore , we need innovative new technologies adapted to those environments and our exploration needs,” said Nasa's Niki Werkheiser, speaking at the time.

"Pushing this development forward with our commercial partners will create the capabilities we need for future missions."

Icon was the company behind Nasa's simulated Martian habitat – Mars Dune Alpha.

It was used in last year's CHAPEA mission, where astronauts lived and worked inside the habitat to see what it would be like.

Now Icon hopes to help Nasa build space homes as part of the agency's Artemis mission to create a continued human presence on the Moon.

Not just homes either: Icon is plotting designs for landing pads, roads, and other pressurised buildings too.

"To change the space exploration paradigm from ‘there and back again’ to ‘there to stay,’ we’re going to need robust, resilient, and broadly capable systems that can use the local resources of the Moon and other planetary bodies," said Icon chief Jason Ballard.

"We’re pleased that our research and engineering to-date has demonstrated that such systems are indeed possible, and we look forward to now making that possibility a reality.

"The final deliverable of this contract will be humanity’s first construction on another world, and that is going to be a pretty special achievement."

The ultimate goal is to create a "sustainable lunar economy", according to Icon, which includes "longer-term lunar habitation".

This might eventually mean Mars – but for now, Nasa has first set its sights on the Moon for off-Earth living.

The first phase was Artemis I in 2022, which saw a successful uncrewed test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

This will be followed by a crewed test flight, and then a manned landing on the Moon's surface.

Earlier this week, Nasa announced that its Artemis program had suffered a major delay.

The crewed flight that was set to land on the Moon as part of Artemis III was originally scheduled to take place in 2026.

But now Nasa says that it will happen no earlier than the middle of 2027.

And the crewed Artemis II test flight around the Moon that was originally planned for September 2025 is now set for April 2026 at the earliest.

The delay was linked to ongoing work on the heatshield for the Orion capsule that will transport astronauts as part of the Artemis missions.

Nasa's plans for crewed visits to Mars will be heavily influenced by the successes and failures of the Artemis program.