China wants to develop special 3D printers for buildings on the Moon

China is reportedly working on 3D printer plans that will use existing materials on the Moon to make a large lunar settlement a reality.

The People’s Republic of China received the first lunar soil sample as part of the Chang’e 5 mission in the first year of the global pandemic, and scientists and astronomers have begun studying the potential for lunar colonization. By the end of this decade, the country aims to complete the Chang’e 6, 7 and 8 missions by collecting a second sample, landing on the Moon’s south pole, and seeking reusable resources, respectively. The Chang’e 8 mission was specifically designed to explore the resources that the country could use for lunar settlement purposes using the chosen 3D printing method.

Examining the mineral composition and the presence of other resources will give scientists clues as to how productions outside of Earth might be possible and will enable them to make plans ahead of the wider Moon voyage to the country.

Also, China seems to be focusing on technologies that don’t require humans, such as 3D printing, that will enable the creation of habitable structures before the arrival of humans. The news, reported via Reuters, comes from the Communist Party’s China Daily, quoting Wu Weiren, a scientist at the China National Space Administration: “If we want to stay on the Moon for a long time, we need to set up stations using materials found on the Moon.”

As China’s space program continues to intensify, it is reportedly preparing to launch a robot capable of building “lunar soil bricks” along with the Chang’e 8 mission.