Texas-based company ICON has received $57.2 million in funding from NASA for its Olympus project. Olympus aims to enable future construction of structures on the Moon and Mars using rocks and soil from the planetary surfaces.
Launched in 2020, the Olympus project seeks to leverage ICON’s technology to build essential infrastructure for astronauts, including landing pads, roads, and habitats on the Moon and Mars. ICON has already developed a 3D-printed prototype of a simulated Mars habitat—Mars Dune Alpha—which NASA will use to train astronauts for long-term missions.
This funding is part of NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, a U.S. government initiative overseen by the Small Business Administration. It will allow ICON to further advance its technologies. The company plans to use the funding to study the effects of lunar gravity on Moon soil and regolith, employing both simulated and actual samples collected during the Apollo missions.
Through the Artemis program, NASA plans to establish a permanent lunar base for long-term human presence by the late 2020s.
ICON is a pioneer in advanced construction technologies. In 2018, the company built the first house entirely 3D-printed, and it has since constructed residential 3D-printed communities in the U.S. and Mexico.