SerpApi.Org
NASA’s vision for establishing an enduring human presence on the moon is moving from science fiction toward reality. But what could entire cities look like on the moon?
In May, the space agency unveiled a detailed plan for a Moon Base near the lunar South Pole, with the third and final phase aiming to achieve a “sustained human presence” on the lunar surface—which is when “living and working on the Moon becomes a reality,” NASA said at the time.
NASA has also announced partnerships supporting lunar exploration, including contracts for lunar terrain vehicles and lunar delivery systems. At the end of June, the agency selected three companies to land four new missions on the moon in late 2028.
As plans accelerate, experts told Newsweek that future lunar settlements could look very different from the skyscraper-filled cities we see on Earth.
Can We Build Skyscrapers on the Moon?
George Sowers, a professor in the space resources program at the Colorado School of Mines who previously served on the Human Exploration and Operations Committee of the NASA Advisory Council, believes the concept is technically feasible.
“Why not? Absolutely,” Sowers told Newsweek, noting that tall structures would be easier to construct if they were built using lunar materials. The engineering challenges associated with skyscrapers on Earth, including hurricanes, high winds, and earthquakes, would largely disappear on the moon, which is seismically inactive and lacks a substantial atmosphere.
Hao Chen, an assistant professor at Stevens Institute of Technology who researches system design and building in space, said a lunar skyscraper would likely serve as a highly functional habitat rather than a statement of architectural ambition.
“A skyscraper on the moon would probably be a vertically organized, modular habitat and infrastructure system built primarily with local lunar materials, such as processed lunar regolith (loose unconsolidated rock and dust that sit on a layer of bedrock),” Chen said.
While the moon’s gravity is only about one-sixth that of Earth’s, giving architects greater freedom in height and form, the professor said the priority would still be its life-supporting functions, including pressure containment, oxygen, water supplies, thermal regulation, radiation shielding, and crew safety.
Chen added that lower gravity dramatically reduces structural loads, allowing for lighter and more expansive forms. However, every building would still need to function as a pressurized life-support system protecting inhabitants from an unforgiving environment.
Cities on the Moon Would Go Underground
Despite the engineering advantages of building tall structures, several experts argued that future lunar cities are more likely to be buried beneath the surface.
Sowers expects settlements to move underground because of the moon’s harsh radiation environment. Unlike Earth, which is protected by a thick atmosphere and magnetic field, the moon offers little natural protection from space radiation.
He pointed to giant lava tubes—vast underground tunnels formed by ancient volcanic activity—as a potentially ideal solution. Because they formed in lower gravity, lunar lava tubes are believed to be much larger than those on Earth and could provide natural shielding from radiation.
Sowers said: “The lava tubes on the moon are bigger because they formed in lower gravity…if you’re inside one of those lava tubes, you’re shielded from the space radiation.”
Architect Scott Specht, founding partner at Specht Novak, agrees that the moon’s geography points toward underground living rather than soaring towers.
“The best home for humans on the moon is the inverse of a skyscraper, an underground facility,” Specht told Newsweek.
Specht said: “The lava tubes and caves discovered beneath the lunar crust are perfect for this,” noting that radar and gravity data suggest that “some intact tubes run for many kilometers and could be wide enough to hold an entire town under a single basalt roof.”
These subterranean spaces offer natural protection from radiation, which is “one of the biggest problems of life on the moon,” and maintain much more stable temperatures than the lunar surface, which experiences dramatic swings between extreme heat and cold, the architect said.
Nathan Silvernail, co-founder and CEO of advanced manufacturing company Plantd and a former SpaceX engineer who led life-support systems development for astronauts on the Crew Dragon spacecraft, similarly predicts that “a civilization on the moon will most likely be subterranean.”
Silvernail believes that future settlements would likely rely on construction materials made from processed regolith and potentially nuclear power systems to support atmosphere management and energy needs.
“I’d imagine the best way to do this would be to figure out a way to create a building material out of regolith, create the machinery needed to produce it, send that to the moon along with some amount of binder, then get to work making walls and doors,” Silvernail told Newsweek.
According to Specht, “making one of these lava tubes livable wouldn’t take much, at least by aerospace standards.” The architect noted that it would require “a lift or some other way down, a pressurized module to hold a breathable atmosphere, and solar panels up on the surface for power.”
Could Architecture on the Moon Change How We Build on Earth?
The innovations required to survive on the moon could potentially reshape architecture on Earth.
Chen said: “Forcing designers and engineers to treat buildings as closed-loop, life-critical ecosystems where resources like air and water are precious may revolutionize sustainable architecture on Earth.” He added that technologies developed for lunar construction, including autonomous robotics and zero-waste resource systems, could prove particularly useful in resource-scarce regions on Earth.
Specht believes the biggest lesson may be less about technology and more about design.
“If the moon teaches architects anything, it may be a lesson about the interior,” Specht noted. “In a buried lunar habitat, there is no view, no facade, no exterior at all, and the entire experiential world has to be created within the enclosure. That’s a discipline we could stand to relearn on Earth too.”
Do you have an architecture or design-related story to share? Let us know via [email protected], and your story could be featured by Newsweek.
Related Articles
