From First Steps to Permanent Presence: China's Lunar Brick-Maker Paves the Way for Moon Settlement

From Neil Armstrong's first step on the Moon in 1969 to the current global race to establish lunar bases, humanity's exploration of our closest celestial neighbor has long transcended symbolic "check-in" visits, entering an era of "settlement-oriented" development. In this deep-space infrastructure competition, China has gained a leading position through groundbreaking achievements. The debut of the world's first lunar regolith brick-making machine not only transforms the sci-fi concept of "using lunar soil to build lunar habitats" into reality but also charts a clear path for long-term human presence on the Moon.

01 "Local Sourcing": Solving the Century-Old Challenge of Lunar Infrastructure

On Earth, "local sourcing" is timeless wisdom for construction; on the Moon, this principle takes on全新的 technological significance. With the average Earth-Moon distance being 380,000 kilometers, transporting one kilogram of supplies from Earth to the Moon costs up to $100,000 – the price of a luxury car. Relying on Earth for construction materials would make building a lunar base astronomically expensive. Thus, the ability to produce building materials using indigenous lunar resources became the core bottleneck constaining sustained presence on the Moon.

The answer from Chinese researchers lies within a device weighing less than 50 kilograms – the lunar regolith brick-making machine. Its core logic is to transform the ubiquitous lunar soil into construction materials. The top 12 meters of lunar soil contain components like silicon dioxide and aluminum oxide. These particles, forged in extreme temperature swings (-170°C to 110°C) and intense radiation, are sharp as blades yet can be melted into stable structures at high temperatures. Leveraging this property, Chinese researchers developed the world's first device capable of "making bricks on-site" on the Moon.

As early as the Tianzhou-8 mission, China sent its first batch of lunar regolith bricks to the space station, which were returned to Earth by the Shenzhou-20 crew in October 2025. These samples underwent key tests in space, including thermodynamic performance and radiation tolerance, laying the groundwork for subsequent practical applications on the Moon. The newly unveiled brick-making machine represents a critical step from laboratory achievement to engineering reality – it enables batch production and achieves "dual local utilization" of both energy and materials,彻底 breaking dependence on Earth-based supplies.

02 The "Magic" of 3000x Sunlight: The Technical Code of the Lunar Brick-Maker

Transforming loose regolith grains into solid bricks hinges on "high-temperature melting." But without a power grid on the Moon, how to obtain the massive energy required? The Chinese team's solution is ingenious – harnessing the Moon's most abundant energy source: sunlight.

The heart of the brick-maker is a sophisticated light-concentration and tracking system. Using a parabolic reflector to track the Sun's trajectory, it concentrates dispersed sunlight into an intense beam with an energy density 3000 times greater than normal, delivered flexibly to the regolith surface via optical fibers. This "light-focusing" technology acts like giant "magnifying glasses" on the Moon, instantly generating temperatures of 1400-1600°C on the regolith surface, melting it into a plastic "dough." Subsequently, using 3D printing modules or special molds, this molten material can be shaped into standard bricks (e.g., 10cm x 10cm x 5cm) with a compressive strength of 30 MPa, surpassing ordinary Earth-based building materials and sufficient to withstand the Moon's extreme environment.

In Earth-based labs, researchers conducted hundreds of tests using lunar regolith simulant (mimicking real lunar soil composition). Lacking the Moon's direct sunlight on Earth, they used solar simulators to replicate the 3000x sunlight environment, verifying the equipment's stability under vacuum and 300°C temperature differentials. Notably, besides solar concentration, the Chinese team has also developed alternative technical pathways like microwave sintering and sulfur consolidation: microwave sintering allows precise heating control in vacuum, while sulfur consolidation cleverly uses potentially available lunar sulfur as a binder, enhancing the flexibility of "local sourcing."

This multi-path approach is a hallmark of China's deep space exploration strategy. As Yang Honglun, an engineer at the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, stated: "Energy from the Moon, materials from the Moon, and the equipment itself delivered by a lander – that is genuine 'Made on the Moon'."

03 The "Moon Palace" in Lava Tubes: Ideal Natural Sites for a Lunar Base

With bricks available, where should lunar structures be built? Chinese researchers are focusing on a unique geological feature – lava tubes. These natural caves, formed by ancient volcanic activity, are ideal candidate sites for a lunar base.

Unlike exposed craters, the interior of lunar lava tubes maintains a stable temperature between -20°C and 30°C, just one-sixth of the surface variation, drastically reducing the energy needed for temperature control. The thick layer of regolith above provides natural shielding against over 90% of cosmic radiation, offering a safe haven for astronauts. Crucially, some lava tubes are hypothesized to potentially contain trapped water ice, vital for solving the water supply problem for a sustained presence. Previous observations by US lunar orbiters identified lava tubes over 40 km long in the Marius Hills region, which are among the candidate areas considered for China's lunar base.

Beyond site selection, the functional design of the base is equally ingenious. Lunar regolith bricks serve not only as construction material; their porous structure also provides thermal and acoustic insulation. Coupled with phase-change energy storage temperature control systems, internal energy consumption can be reduced to one-fifth of traditional designs. Future bricks could be used to build habitats, research modules, power stations, and even pave roads on the lunar surface. Power for the base would combine solar panels with helium-3 power generation systems – Chinese teams have already developed a "crushing method" to extract helium-3 (a highly efficient, clean fuel) existing in bubble form within regolith at room temperature, providing long-term power for the base.

04 From Exploration to Settlement: China's Systematic Approach to Deep Space Exploration

The breakthrough of the lunar brick-maker is just the tip of the iceberg in China's lunar plans. From the sample-return missions of Chang'e-5 and 6, to innovations in helium-3 extraction technology, and the advancement of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), China is building its deep space exploration capabilities with a "parallel multi-track" rhythm.

According to plans, the Chang'e-8 mission, scheduled for around 2028, will serve as the "dedicated lunar delivery" for the first brick-making machine. It will carry the device to conduct in-situ brick-making tests on the lunar surface, verifying the technology's reliability in the actual lunar environment. Simultaneously, Chang'e-7, carrying international payloads, will conduct detailed surveys of water ice distribution at the lunar south pole, providing data support for base site selection. The results of these two missions will directly serve the construction of the ILRS planned for the early 2030s.

The deeper strategy lies in comprehensive breakthroughs in In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technology. Beyond making bricks from regolith, Chinese teams have made progress in extracting water ice from regolith and helium-3 mining: the "crushing method" for helium-3 extraction requires no high temperatures and works mechanically at room temperature; water ice extraction plans involve using solar energy to heat regolith, releasing crystallized water. The maturation of these technologies will transform the Moon from an "exploration target" into a "treasure trove of resources," laying the foundation for a cislunar economic sphere.

As Wu Weiren, Chief Designer of China's Lunar Exploration Program and Director of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, stated: "Deep space exploration isn't a linear progression of single missions, but the coordinated development of exploration, resource utilization, and base construction. We must not only be able to 'get there,' but also 'stay there,' and, crucially, 'utilize lunar resources effectively'."

05 Building a Shared Space Home: The International Character of Deep Space Exploration

Space exploration has never been a solitary endeavor. Behind technological breakthroughs like the lunar brick-maker lies deep collaboration between China and the global space community. Currently, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has signed intergovernmental cooperation agreements on the ILRS with 17 countries, while the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory has established collaborations with over 60 international research institutions, jointly advancing key technologies like lunar regolith utilization and energy systems.

This cooperation is evident in specific missions: Chang'e-4 carried a Dutch low-frequency radio detector, Chang'e-6 carried French and Italian regolith analysis instruments, and the upcoming Chang'e-7 and -8 will host even more international payloads. The recently established International Deep Space Exploration Society has become a new platform for global scientific exchange. As Academician Wu Weiren said, "The Moon is the common frontier of humanity. Only by uniting can we achieve the leap from 'lunar exploration' to 'lunar habitation' faster."

From the legend of Chang'e flying to the Moon to literally "making bricks" on the Moon, the Chinese people, drawing on millennia of wisdom and practical effort, are turning the mythical "Moon Palace" into blueprints for construction. The advent of the lunar regolith brick-making machine not only marks the entry of lunar infrastructure into a practical phase but also signals a critical step forward for humanity's settlement in deep space. In the future, with the advancement of the Chang'e and Tianwen missions, it might not be long before we see the first lights of a human base shining from within a lunar lava tube – another beacon of human civilization lit in the cosmos.