One of the biggest challenges for space colonists is just how expensive (in terms of energy) it is to get supplies off of Planet Earth. Until we get a space elevator, it’s going to stay that way. One solution is to send as little as possible up there. When it comes to building a moon base, couldn’t we just make it out of rock? After all, the moon is already made of rocks.

The European Space Agency in partnership with Foster + Partners and Monolite UK is aiming to do exactly that.

By using the Moon’s loose rocks (regolith) as a base for concrete, robots based on Monolite’s D-Shape 3-D printer will be able to build up a structure that uses as many local materials as possible.