Building Lunar Cities: Concepts, Materials, and Challenges

Efforts to design and build lunar cities focus on using local resources and advanced construction techniques to address the Moon’s harsh environment. These approaches aim to reduce reliance on materials from Earth and improve safety for future inhabitants.

Natural features such as lava tubes and lunar caves, including a pit in Mare Tranquillitatis, have been identified as potential sites for shelters. These underground spaces can help shield lunar habitats from radiation, temperature extremes, and micrometeorite impacts, offering a protective environment for early settlements.

Proposals for initial lunar habitation include inflatable modules covered with several meters of lunar regolith. This method aims to provide both efficiency and safety, using the Moon’s surface material as a shield against cosmic radiation and debris.

Robotic 3D printing using lunar regolith has been tested by agencies such as ESA and NASA. This technique allows for the construction of domes, walls, and landing pads, reducing the need to transport heavy building materials from Earth. Companies like Made In Space are developing “rego” bricks by combining polymers with simulated moon dust for autonomous construction tasks.

What the numbers show

• Lunarcrete has measured compressive strengths between 39 and 75.7 MPa
• AstroCrete has demonstrated compressive strength up to 40 MPa in experiments
• A 2015 estimate placed the cost of a four-person lunar station at around US $35 billion
• The Moon’s surface can reach 121 °C during the day and -133 °C at night

Water ice located in permanently shadowed lunar craters is considered a vital resource for future lunar cities. Electrolysis could process this ice to provide drinking water, oxygen, and hydrogen, supporting both life support and fuel needs for lunar inhabitants.

Power generation for lunar settlements is expected to rely on solar farms placed on peaks near the Moon’s poles, where sunlight is nearly constant. Small nuclear fission reactors, such as NASA’s Kilopower project, are also being considered as supplementary energy sources to ensure a stable supply.

Construction materials for lunar cities are being developed using local resources. Laboratory tests of lunarcrete, made from lunar regolith, have shown compressive strengths suitable for building. AstroCrete, which uses human serum albumin and urea as a binder, has also demonstrated promising results. Research from the Indian Institute of Science has shown that certain bacteria can bind regolith into bricks, and sintered bricks with polyvinyl alcohol have achieved even greater strength.

The Moon’s environment presents unique challenges for construction, including extreme temperature swings and the absence of a protective atmosphere. Structures require thick walls to protect against radiation and micrometeorite impacts. Modular settlement designs, such as those from Hassell and ESA, envision initial capacities for over 100 people, with the possibility of expansion as technology advances.

As of 2025, advanced moonbase projects include NASA’s Artemis Base Camp and China’s International Lunar Research Station. Broader concepts like the Moon Village plan, organized by the Moon Village Association, promote international collaboration and focus on locations near the lunar south pole to take advantage of sunlight and ice deposits.

* This article is based on publicly available information at the time of writing.