A solar energy device transforms the dirt from the moon to bricks, a potential breakthrough in lunar construction

The United States and China have both shot the moon, aimed at inaugurating permanent lunar bases during the next decade. Although there is no legal basis to claim a territory in space, whatever the country that comes there first, there will be a coveted advantage of the first engine, which allows it to define certain basic rules on who can do what.

But getting there first is only half of the battle. The establishment of a sustained lunar presence presents important logistical and engineering challenges. One of the greatest obstacles is to understand how to carry Earth building materials effectively and affordable to build a moon base, but a team of scientists from China Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) in Hefei, ani province, may have already solved this problem.

In July, the researchers published the test results for a prototype of a lunar regolith training system in the journal ACTA Astronautica. This 3D printer -shaped device manufactures solid construction bricks from Moondust, alias Lunar Regolith. Being able to produce building materials with resources easily available on the Moon would reduce the need for terrestrial origin materials, the Chinese State Media Agency in Yang Hoglun, co-author and main engineer at Dsel, the Chinese State Agency Xinhua, told the Chinese State Agency.

“This printing breakthrough has validated the feasibility of the use of the lunar floor as the only gross building material, allowing a real use of in situ resources and eliminating the need to transport any additional material of the earth,” said Yang.

The system uses a parabolic mirror – a reflective dish – to collect solar radiation, concentrate it in a single point, then enter it through fiber optic cable beams. At the point of development, the intensity of the light exceeds 3,000 times the standard intensity of sunlight on the surface of the earth, reaching temperatures at more than 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit (1,300 degrees Celsius), according to Moon Daily. This is usually hot enough to melt the Moondust.

In a series of laboratory tests using an artificial lunar regolith in basalt and an xenon lamp to simulate sunlight, the prototype has managed to melt the regolith and form solid shapes, including lines, surfaces, bodies and complex structures. Yang says the prototype could make materials to support the construction of lunar roads, equipment platforms and buildings to allow lunar exploration and large-scale durable use.

The success of this preliminary test marks a major step towards in situ manufacturing of lunar building materials, but there are limits. Yang told Moon Daily that lunar soil bricks cannot undergo pressure in the vacuum and the low gravity of the moon. However, they could act like protective layers on habitat modules holding the pressure in rigid and inflatable structures, reports Moon Daily.

China was already making progress in this area before DSEL researchers test their lunar regolith training system. In November 2024, the nation sent a cargo rocket carrying prototypes of bricks made from simulating lunar regolith at its Tiangong space station to test in space conditions. The bricks will remain outside the space station for three years to test their sustainability in this severe environment, according to Space.com.

Other countries, including the United States, also develop methods to use the lunar regolith for construction, but the progress of China in recent years has been particularly important. Indeed, the Chinese lunar exploration program has followed the pace – and even exceeded – aspects of the NASA Artemis program in recent years. The United States certainly feels pressure.