3D-Printed Habitat Challenge - NASA

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The multi-phase challenge was designed to advance the construction technology needed to create sustainable housing solutions for Earth and beyond. The competition, completed in 2019, awarded a total of $2,061,023.

The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge was a NASA’s Centennial Challenges program competition to build a 3D-printed habitat for deep space exploration, including the agency’s journey to the Moon, Mars or beyond. The multi-phase challenge was designed to advance the construction technology needed to create sustainable housing solutions for Earth and beyond. The competition, completed in 2019, awarded a total of $2,061,023.

Phase 1, the Design Competition, required teams to submit architectural renderings and was completed in 2015. ($50,000 prize purse/$40,000 awarded)
Phase 2, the Structural Member Competition, focused on material technologies, requiring teams to create structural components. It was completed in 2017. ($1.1 million prize purse/$701,000 awarded)
Phase 3, the On-Site Habitat Competition, completed in 2019, challenged competitors to fabricate sub-scale habitats, and had five levels of competition – three construction levels and two virtual levels. For the virtual levels, teams used Building Information Modeling software to design a habitat that combined allowances for both the structure and systems it must contain. The construction levels challenged the teams to autonomously 3D-print elements of the habitat, culminating with a one-third-scale printed habitat for the final level. ($3.15M prize purse/ $2M awarded)

The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge was managed through a partnership with NASA’s Centennial Challenges program and Bradley University. Bradley partnered with sponsors Caterpillar, Bechtel and Brick & Mortar Ventures to administer the competition. NASA’s Centennial Challenges program is part of the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and is managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

3D-Printed Habitat Challenge News

See past articles about this completed challenge.

More Challenge News

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zopherus_exterior_titleview

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Light enters through trough-shaped ports on the sides and top of a 3-d printed habitat

Latest Updates from NASA on 3D-Printed Habitat Competition

Team Zopherus of Rogers, Arkansas, is the first-place winner in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, Phase 3: Level 1 competition.

Top Five Teams Win a Share of $100,000 in Virtual Modeling Stage of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Competition

Team Kahn-Yates in Phase 3: Level 1 of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

Top 10 Teams Selected in Virtual Model Stage of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

NASA Opens $2 Million Third Phase of 3D-Printed Habitat Competition

The Foster + Partners | Branch Technology team

NASA Awards $400,000 to Top Teams at Second Phase of 3D-Printing Competition

Beam from 3D Habitat Challenge after bend testing

Six Teams Earn Honors, Prize Money in Second Construction Level of NASA Challenge to 3-D Print a Habitat

3D-printed cone by the Foster & Partners | Branch Technology team for the Level 2, Phase 1

NASA Awards $100,000 in First Printing Stage of 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

An artist's rendering of the Mars Ice Home concept.

A New Home on Mars: NASA Langley’s Icy Concept for Living on the Red Planet

Mars Ice House

NASA Offers Prize Money for Winning 3D-Printed Habitat Ideas

3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

Fact Sheet

NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge was a Centennial Challenges Program competition designed to advance additive construction technology needed to create sustainable housing solutions for Earth, the Moon, Mars and beyond.

Team SEArch+/Apis Cor

The virtual design from team Mars Incubator won third place — The virtual design from team Mars Incubator won third place in the Phase 3: Level 4 software modeling stage of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The team is a collection of engineers and artists.
Credits: Mars Incubator

Team SEArch+/Apis Cor — Team SEArch+/Apis Cor won first place in the Phase 3: Level 4 software modeling stage of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The unique shape of their habitat allows for continuous reinforcement of the structure. Light enters through trough-shaped ports on the sides and top.
Credits: Team SEArch+/Apis Cor

3-D Habitat illustration from Team Zopherus — Team Zopherus won second place in the Phase 3: Level 4 software modeling stage of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The team’s design would be constructed by an autonomous roving printer that prints a structure and then moves on to the next site.
Credits: Zopherus

A 3D-printed structure from team SEArch+/Apis Cor is being prepared for hydrostatic leak testing. — A 3D-printed structure from team SEArch+/Apis Cor is being prepared for hydrostatic leak testing. The team won first place in Phase 3: Level 3 of the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The test is performed by filling the structure with water to a specified depth and measuring the leakage rate by the rate of the drop in the water level.
Credits: SEArch+/Apis Cor

The Pennsylvania State University team performs a hydrostatic leak test on their 3D-printed habitat element — The Pennsylvania State University team performs a hydrostatic leak test on their 3D-printed habitat element for Phase 3: Level 3 of the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The test is performed by filling the structure with water to a specified depth and measuring the leakage rate by the rate of the drop in the water level. The university took the third place award for this level.
Credits: Pennsylvania State University

Team SEArch+/Apis Cor of New York won first place in Phase 3: Level 2 of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. — Team SEArch+/Apis Cor of New York won first place in Phase 3: Level 2 of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. For this level, they printed a foundation and subjected it to various tests, including dropping a shotput on it to simulate a meteor strike. Watch the full video of their entry and testing.
Credits: SEArch+/Apis Cor

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