Texas-based construction 3D printing firm ICON has gained a $57.2 million contract from NASA to develop an off-world construction system.
As part of a Phase III of NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, ICON has been awarded nearly $60 million to build upon its previous work as part Project Olympus. Thus far, this mission has seen the company work with architecture firms BIG and SEArch+ to develop a new machine that can 3D print permanent lunar structures from lunar regolith.
“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 Co-founder 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.”
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