The Austin-based homebuilder ICON is looking at an out-of-this-world development opportunity. The company just recently signed a $57 million contract with NASA to build on the moon. WFAA reports that the home builder will enter a new frontier of space. The news comes after a large portion of the headquarters in South Austin was consumed by fire.
WFAA reports that the contract was announced on Tuesday and was awarded to the company under NASA's Phase III Small Business Innovation Research program. ICON will use the $57 million award to build the planned Olympus system, which builds onto the construction already done by NASA and the Department of Defense. A statement from ICON was released to WFAA saying:
"ICON’s Olympus system is intended to be a multi-purpose construction system primarily using local lunar and Martian resources as building materials to further the efforts of NASA as well as commercial organizations to establish a sustained lunar presence."
ICON co-founder Jason Ballard said the final deliverable of the contract will be the world's first construction on another world, and that is something special. The project is working in partnering with NASA's Artemis program, which launched its first rocket in 50 years. WFAA reports that as part of the Artemis program, NASA is working towards the first off-Earth site for sustainable surface exploration of the moon. Ballard says that ICON plans to implement a live-off-the-land approach that uses the materials found on the moon to create sustainable living. ICON is also working alongside NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate to create the first and only simulated 3D-printed Mars surface habitat.
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