Both the U.S. and China have set their sights on the Moon, aiming to break ground on permanent lunar bases within the next decade. Though there’s no legal basis for claiming territory in space, whichever country gets there first will gain a coveted first-mover advantage, allowing it to set certain ground rules about who can do what, where.

But getting there first is only half the battle. Actually establishing a sustained lunar presence presents significant logistical and engineering challenges. One of the biggest hurdles is figuring out how to efficiently and affordably transport building materials from Earth to construct a Moon base, but a team of scientists at China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) in Hefei, Anhui Province, may have already solved that problem.

In July, the researchers published test results for a prototype of a lunar regolith forming system in the journal Acta Astronautica. This 3D printer-like device makes strong construction bricks out of moondust, a.k.a. lunar regolith. Being able to produce building materials with resources readily available on the Moon would reduce the need for Earth-sourced materials, Yang Hoglun, a co-author and senior engineer at DSEL, told the Chinese state media agency Xinhua.

“This printing breakthrough has validated the feasibility of using lunar soil as the sole raw building material, enabling true in-situ resource utilization and eliminating the need to transport any additional materials from Earth,” Yang said.

The system uses a parabolic mirror—a reflective dish—to gather solar radiation, focus it into a single point, then funnel it through bundles of fiber optic cables. At the focus point, light intensity exceeds 3,000 times the standard intensity of sunlight at Earth’s surface, reaching temperatures over 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit (1,300 degrees Celsius), according to Moon Daily. This is generally hot enough to melt moondust.

In a series of lab tests using artificial lunar regolith made from basalt and a xenon lamp to simulate sunlight, the prototype successfully melted the regolith and formed solid shapes, including lines, surfaces, bodies, and complex structures. Yang claims the prototype could manufacture materials to support construction of lunar roads, equipment platforms, and buildings to enable large-scale, sustainable lunar exploration and resource use.

The success of this preliminary test marks a major step toward in-situ manufacturing of lunar construction materials, but there are limitations. Yang told Moon Daily that lunar soil bricks cannot sustain pressure in the Moon’s vacuum and low-gravity environment. They could, however, act as protective layers over pressure-retaining habitat modules made of rigid and inflatable structures, Moon Daily reports.

China was already making strides in this area before the DSEL researchers tested their lunar regolith forming system. In November 2024, the nation sent a cargo rocket carrying brick prototypes made from lunar regolith simulant to its Tiangong space station for testing in space conditions. The bricks will remain outside the space station for three years to test their durability in this harsh environment, according to Space.com.

Other countries, including the U.S., are also developing methods to use lunar regolith for construction, but China’s progress within the last few years has been particularly significant. Indeed, the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program has kept pace with—and even exceeded—certain aspects of NASA’s Artemis program over the past several years. The U.S. is certainly feeling the pressure.