Authors: Azar Djamali
Abstract: Advances in AI, robotics and construction technology are making in‑situ extraterrestrial building practicable. Demonstrations such as Mars Dune Alpha (NASA/ICON), Lunar Habitat via Contour Crafting (NASA/ICON), and the Autonomous Self‑Growing Structures research (Jin et al. 2023) show technical feasibility, but economic barriers remain the principal threat to long‑term habitation. This paper proposes a concise techno‑economic framework that treats economic sustainability as a primary design parameter, integrating financial intelligence—data‑driven financial planning and decision support, typically aided by AI—with architectural and robotic development. The framework shows how coordinated design, automated fabrication and targeted financial analysis can reduce lifecycle costs and improve value creation. Drawing on a broad literature synthesis and analysis of over 20 government, commercial and student projects (estimates compiled from public sources and open repositories and used here as indicative rather than fully verified), the study offers practical guidance for architects, students and industry stakeholders to mitigate financial risk, structure resilient financing and move space architecture toward commercial viability.
DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17277057
