How Lasers & 3D Printing Will Build Our Future in Space

Space exploration has advanced significantly over the last few decades, and with that, so have our ambitions. It isn’t only about visiting distant planets anymore, but rather staying there, and for that, we are actively looking into building structures that will support future space colonization and interstellar travel.

However, building off-Earth isn’t the same as building on Earth. Construction in space comes with serious challenges. 

For instance, severe temperature fluctuations can compromise the integrity of the construction materials that we use here on Earth. Then there’s microgravity, the vacuum of space, radiation, the scarcity of resources like water and conventional aggregates, and the logistics of launching and assembling components in orbit or on extraterrestrial surfaces.

All of these present challenges that call for a need to rethink both materials and methods for construction in space.

Advancements like space concrete, microwave sintering, laser sintering, thermosetting materials, and regolith melting/forming are some of the ways harsh environmental conditions and scarcity of resources are being addressed.

3D printing technology is another pivotal innovation, showing great potential for constructing complex habitats and structures in space. It offers the benefits of precision, enhanced efficiency, rapid setting, stability, and waste minimization. 

This technology can be utilized with local materials like lunar and Martian soil to build durable infrastructures, reducing the need to transport all the materials from Earth.

Another innovation playing an important role here is automated robots, which construct concrete structures in severe environments and remove the need for human labor. They have real-time monitoring capabilities to ensure construction quality and safety for long-term habitation.

So, the field of space exploration and colonization is rapidly advancing, and amidst that, researchers have now come up with a way to build really big structures for sustainable space operations. 

NOM4D Journey: Laser-Based Space Manufacturing

A team of engineers from the University of Florida (UF) is working on manufacturing precision metal structures¹ in orbit with the help of laser technology.  

The idea is to specifically build massive structures, such as a 100-meter solar array in orbit, using advanced laser technology.  

Besides solar panels, the team aims to see large-scale structures like space telescopes, satellite antennas, or even parts of space stations built directly in orbit, which would mark a major step toward longer missions and sustainable space operations.

According to Victoria Miller, Ph.D.,  an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at UF’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering:

“We want to build big things in space. To build big things in space, you must start manufacturing things in space. This is an exciting new frontier.” 

To carry out their research, the university has obtained a $1.1 million contract from DARPA. While other universities are also exploring space manufacturing, UF is the only one that focuses on laser forming for space applications.

For this, Miller and her students are working in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, which helps advance America’s space program through its launch vehicles, space systems, propulsion systems and hardware, state-of-the-art engineering technologies, and cutting-edge science and research projects.

So, together they are working on a project called NOM4D, which is Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design, that seeks to transform space infrastructure development. 

For NOM4D, one of the biggest challenges is getting past the limitations of the size and weight of rocket cargo. To tackle these issues, the UF team is developing laser-forming technology to bend metals into shape by tracing precise patterns on them.

If done accurately, this doesn’t require a human touch as the heat from the laser twists the metal itself, making it a crucial step toward orbital manufacturing becoming a reality. According to a team member, Nathan Fripp, who’s a third-year Ph.D. student studying materials science and engineering:

“With this technology, we can build structures in space far more efficiently than launching them fully assembled from Earth. This opens up a wide range of new possibilities for space exploration, satellite systems, and even future habitats.”

Changing the shape of the metal correctly and as needed is a complex process, so the complex laser bending is surely a great achievement, but it is just part of the equation.

The challenge, Miller noted, is making sure that the properties of the material either stay good or improve during the process. The bent regions still need to have good properties as well as be tough and strong with the right flexibility.

In order to assess the materials, the team ran controlled tests on stainless steel, aluminum, and ceramics to analyze just how variables like heat, gravity, and laser input affect how materials bend and behave.

“We run many controlled tests and collect detailed data on how different metals respond to laser energy: how much they bend, how much they heat up, how the heat affects them and more. We have also developed models to predict the temperature and the amount of bending based on the material properties, and laser energy input. We continuously learn from both modeling and experiments to deepen our understanding of the process.”

– Wei

According to the UF press release, one of the assessments involved testing laser forming in space-like conditions, which required a thermal vacuum chamber. This was provided by NASA, making the collaboration with NASA Marshall Space Center critical in significantly increasing the technology readiness level (TRL).

This testing was led by Fripp and was performed to observe the materials’ response to the harsh environment of space. And what the team found was that a number of factors, including material properties, laser parameters, and atmospheric conditions, determine the final results.

“In space, conditions like extreme temperatures, microgravity, and vacuums further change how materials behave. As a result, adapting our forming techniques to work reliably and consistently in space adds another layer of complexity.”

– Fripp

The research at UF first began back in 2021 and has since made a lot of progress. But for the technology to be ready for use in space, it needs to be developed further. It is currently entering its final year, with the project primed to finish in the summer of 2026.

While questions remain about different aspects of the project, in particular about maintaining material integrity during the laser-forming process, the team is optimistic as with each simulation and laser test, it moves another step closer to the new era of construction.

“It’s great to be a part of a team pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in manufacturing, not just on Earth, but beyond.”

– Wei

Eco-Friendly Building Blocks for Extraterrestrial Habitats

In the quest for off-Earth construction, scientists are trying different routes, including taking advantage of the resources available on other planets. 

Recently, scientists from Texas A&M University, with collaborators at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, developed living materials that turn Martian dust into structures, enabling autonomous construction on the red planet. Innovations like these are important in helping to realize the goal of colonizing Mars.

The team has been exploring ways to create engineered living materials through bio-manufacturing for several years, and finally, they have created a synthetic lichen system that can produce building materials independently, without human input.

Supported by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, the latest research explored how this system can be utilized to construct structures on Mars using regolith. According to Dr. Congrui Grace Jin from Texas A&M:

“We can build a synthetic community by mimicking natural lichens. We’ve developed a way to build synthetic lichens to create biomaterials that glue Martian regolith particles into structures. Then, through 3D printing, a wide range of structures can be fabricated, such as buildings, houses, and furniture.”

There are other strategies to bind Martian regolith that have already been explored by other researchers. These methods include those based on sulfur, magnesium, and geopolymer compounds; however, they all heavily depend on human labor, making them impractical.

Self-growing microbial systems are another way. Some of the innovations in this area include using fungal mycelium as a natural binder, ureolytic bacteria to produce calcium carbonate for brick formation, and bacterial biomineralization to turn sand into solid masonry.

While promising, these practices aren’t completely autonomous, as the microbes used are limited to a single species and need a constant supply of nutrients to survive, which makes outside intervention necessary.

So, the team turned to multiple species for their fully autonomous self-growing technology.

Heterotrophic filamentous fungi were used here as they promote large amounts of biominerals and can survive space’s severe conditions. It was paired with photoautotrophic diazotrophic cyanobacteria to make the synthetic lichen system. The team is now working on the next step of their project, creating regolith ink to 3D print bio-structures.

“The potential of this self-growing technology in enabling long-term extraterrestrial exploration and colonization is significant.”

– Jin

A few months ago, scientists from Georgia Tech also reported developing a new class of modular, reconfigurable, and sustainable building blocks that are well-suited for both terrestrial and extraterrestrial habitats.

The units, called Eco-voxels (eco-friendly voxels), can reduce carbon footprints by as much as 40% while maintaining the structural performance needed for aircraft wings and load-bearing walls.

These 3D equivalents of pixels are made from polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), a partially bio-based polymer that’s derived from corn sugar and reinforced with recycled carbon fibers from the scrap material lost during the manufacturing of aerospace components.

These eco-voxels are lightweight, can be assembled rapidly, and rely on locally sourced materials, making them ideal candidates for future lunar or Martian shelters.

Lunar and Martian Habitats: The Global Push Forward

Enthusiasm for space exploration has clearly led to advancements in space technology. When it comes to establishing habitats on the Moon and Mars, NASA has been actively involved, understanding the challenges and developing the necessary systems.

Its Artemis program is among the major developments whose goal is to establish a permanent base on the Moon. NASA is also working with Texas-based construction technologies company ICON to build a space-based construction system and has invested in its Project Olympus.

The focus of the project is on robotic construction, aiming to deploy 3D-printing robots that can create habitable structures, storage units, and landing pads using material from the Moon. It has even run a year-long experiment on its 3D-printed Mars habitat prototype.

The company has also built a real 3D-printed 1,700-square-foot structure for NASA through its Vulcan construction system. It is designed by the architecture firm BIG and will simulate Mars’ habitat to aid long-term space missions. 

NASA is also exploring using mycelium bricks made from fungi to build homes on Mars and the moon.

Led by Lynn Rothschild, a senior scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, the project dubbed “Mycotecture Off Planet” received $2 million in funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which is “committed to advancing technologies to transport our astronauts, house our explorers, and facilitate valuable research.”

The concept involves astronauts bringing along lightweight structures imbued with dormant fungi with them and using a touch of water to stimulate the fungi to grow. Mycelia are thread-like structures that form the bulk of fungi, can grow into complex, robust shapes, and can be safely contained to avoid any contamination. Additionally, mycelia can be used for water filtration and to extract minerals from wastewater.

The team has already demonstrated their concept’s feasibility, having created fungal-based biocomposites and testing prototypes with its focus now on improving the material properties of their fungal habitats and then testing them in low Earth orbit.

In the European Union (EU), the European Space Agency (ESA) has been making significant strides. For instance, in 2020, it set up a prototype plant to produce oxygen out of simulated moon dust. A few years later, it began working on Prospect, a robotic drill and miniature laboratory that assesses potential resources on the Moon to extract them in the future. 

To propel its space plans forward, the ESA is working with other agencies like the US’s NASA, along with multiple private organizations.

Danish design-build firm SAGA has created a compact training habitat for the ESA. These habitats have a work area, a communal space, and sleeping capsules. Aurelia Institute, meanwhile, is developing modular panels, which, once deployed in space, can form larger structures, providing more comfortable environments for astronauts.

In addition to its resource extraction and habitat prototypes, ESA is also advancing critical timing technologies. It has built an Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES), which was launched into orbit from Florida in April this year. It consists of two connected atomic clocks, one containing hydrogen atoms and the other containing cesium to produce a single set of ticks with higher precision, accurate within one second in 300 million years.

The high-precision clock will enable better navigation, resource management, and even gravitational measurements, supporting sustainable human presence beyond Earth.

Click here to learn what the future space economy might look like.

Even Data Storage is Going to the Moon

Interestingly, companies are even investigating moving data centers to space. Earlier this year, Florida-based Lonestar Data Holdings had its device the size of a shoebox on board the Athena lander (IM-2) of Intuitive Machines. 

The purpose of IM-2 is to showcase resource prospecting, lunar mobility, and substance analysis to help uncover water sources in order to establish sustainable infrastructure on the lunar surface as well as in space.

Lonestar Data Holdings’ device onboard IM-2 meanwhile carried data from Vint Cerf, who’s recognized as one of “the fathers of the Internet,” and the government of Florida, among others.

Putting data storage on the moon is expected to help overcome the challenges with data centers, an industry experiencing fast-paced growth due to increasing demand for AI, machine learning, and cloud services. Data centers are known for their high-energy demand, straining power grids, and noise pollution, all of which may be overcome by the vast space.

According to Steve Eisele, Lonestar’s president and chief revenue officer, “the moon can be the safest option” for your data. “It’s harder to hack; it’s way harder to penetrate; it’s above any issues on Earth, from natural disasters to power outages to war,” he added.

The company aims to launch a commercial data storage service by 2027 using a number of satellites placed in L1, the Lagrange point between the Sun and the Earth. Other companies like Axiom Space and Starcloud are planning their own moves, too.

“The lunar economy will grow, and within the next five years we will need digital infrastructure on the moon,” as well as “Mars and beyond. That will be a big part of our future,” said Eisele.

Investing in Space Exploration & Colonization

In the realm of space, Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC +0.32%) is deeply involved through NASA’s Artemis program, Gateway lunar outpost systems, autonomous robotics, and in-space manufacturing research. It also works on advanced propulsion, large-scale deployable structures, and precision manufacturing.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC +0.32%)

Northrop Grumman Corporation has a market cap of $72.57 billion, with its shares currently trading at $506.62, up 7.44% YTD. It has an EPS (TTM) of 25.36 and a P/E (TTM) of 19.88 while offering a dividend yield of 1.83%.

Financially, it reported $9.5 billion in sales and a record backlog of $92.8 billion for Q1 of 2025. Net earnings totaled $481 million, or $3.32 per diluted share. Almost $800 million was returned to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

Latest Northrop Grumman (NOC) Stock News and Developments

Conclusion

As we continue to reach farther into the cosmos, it’s becoming very clear that we are going to need more than just rockets to build a permanent presence. This means robust structures that can handle harsh environmental conditions and address resource scarcity.

From laser-shaping metal in orbit to bioengineered materials, autonomous robots, and 3D printing, these advances are paving the way for a sustainable off-Earth future. As research continues, we are moving closer to creating a permanent foothold beyond our planet and building a truly interplanetary civilization.

Click here for a list of top aerospace stocks.

Editor’s Note (July 2025): This article was updated to include additional source attribution and to remove a sentence that mischaracterized the research team’s progress on feedback loop development.

References:

^{1. Carter, P. (2025, June 25). From classroom to cosmos: Students aim to build big things in space. University of Florida News. Retrieved from https://news.ufl.edu/2025/06/manufacturing-in-space-with-lasers/}