Space architecture is the discipline focused on designing environments where humans can live, work, and thrive beyond Earth. As NASA prepares to establish a sustained presence on the Moon through the Artemis program and begins planning for eventual crewed missions to Mars, the question of how to build safe, functional habitats in these extreme environments has moved from theoretical research into active development.
This is not science fiction. NASA is currently running its second year-long Mars surface simulation inside a 3D-printed habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Private companies are testing construction systems designed to build structures using lunar and Martian soil. And a growing community of architects, engineers, and researchers is working to solve the unique challenges that come with designing for environments where every resource must be carefully managed and every design decision can affect crew health and mission success.
For those interested in where this field is heading, the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) 2026 will feature sessions and speakers directly engaged in this work, including featured speaker and space architect Melodie Yashar.
What Makes Space Architecture Different From Architecture on Earth
Designing a habitat for the Moon or Mars goes far beyond traditional building challenges. Space architects must solve for radiation shielding, pressure containment, micrometeorite protection, thermal extremes, and the absence of breathable atmosphere, all while accounting for the psychological effects of long-duration isolation on crew health and performance. The discipline draws on architecture, engineering, human factors research, robotics, and materials science to create environments that keep people not just alive, but mentally and physically healthy.
NASA’s CHAPEA: Testing 3D-Printed Mars Habitats on Earth
One of the most significant space architecture projects currently underway is NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog, known as CHAPEA. The program places four-person crews inside a 1,700-square-foot 3D-printed habitat called Mars Dune Alpha at NASA’s Johnson Space Center for 378-day simulated Mars missions.
The first CHAPEA mission ran from June 2023 through July 2024. The second mission began in October 2025 and is scheduled to conclude in October 2026. During these missions, crew members live under conditions designed to replicate the challenges of a real Mars surface stay, including communication delays, resource limitations, simulated equipment failures, and spacewalk exercises in a Mars-like sandbox environment.
The habitat itself was 3D-printed using large-scale additive manufacturing technology. It includes private crew quarters, a kitchen, medical and fitness areas, workstations, crop growth facilities, and two bathrooms. The layout was specifically designed to separate living and working areas, reflecting the kind of human-centered planning that space architects bring to mission design.
CHAPEA is providing NASA with critical data on how habitat design affects crew health, performance, and team dynamics over long-duration missions. These findings will directly inform the design of future surface habitats on the Moon and Mars.
3D Printing and In-Situ Resource Utilization for Off-World Construction
One of the biggest challenges of building on the Moon or Mars is the cost and difficulty of transporting construction materials from Earth. A single kilogram of payload sent to the lunar surface can cost tens of thousands of dollars. This has made in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, a central focus of space architecture research.
The concept is straightforward: instead of shipping building materials from Earth, use the soil and rock already available at the destination. On the Moon, that means lunar regolith. On Mars, it means Martian soil. Researchers and companies are developing 3D printing systems capable of processing these materials into structural components for landing pads, radiation shielding, roads, and habitats.
NASA’s Moon to Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technologies (MMPACT) project is testing how lunar soil simulants behave under various processing and printing methods. In early 2025, a test flight aboard a Blue Origin suborbital vehicle simulated lunar gravity conditions to study how regolith flows and settles, comparing the behavior of simulant material against real lunar samples collected during the Apollo missions.
The long-term vision is a construction system that can be deployed autonomously before astronauts even arrive, building the basic infrastructure they will need on the surface.
Melodie Yashar and the Evolution of Space Architecture at ISDC 2026
Melodie Yashar is a featured speaker at ISDC 2026 and one of the leading voices in the field of space architecture. She is the founder of AENARA, a practice developing technologies to autonomously build off-world habitats. Her work bridges the gap between advanced construction technology and human-centered design.
Yashar played a lead role in the design and construction of NASA’s CHAPEA habitat at Johnson Space Center. She co-founded Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), whose Mars Ice House and Mars X-House projects won top prizes in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. She previously served as VP of Building Design and Performance at ICON, the construction technology company that 3D-printed the Mars Dune Alpha structure. She is also Vice Chair of the AIAA Space Architecture Technical Committee and teaches design studios at Art Center College of Design.
Her session at ISDC 2026 represents an opportunity to hear directly from someone working at the intersection of architecture, robotics, and space exploration. For attendees interested in how humans will actually live on the Moon and Mars, this is one of the conference’s most relevant sessions.
Where the Conversation Continues: ISDC 2026
NASA’s Artemis program includes plans for a surface habitat on the Moon, and Mars presents even greater challenges with thin atmosphere, dust storms, and the need for fully self-sufficient systems. The groundwork for both is being laid now through programs like CHAPEA, MMPACT, and ongoing research across industry and academia. The community driving this work forward gathers each year at ISDC to share progress, debate approaches, and build collaborations.
ISDC 2026, hosted by the National Space Society from June 4 to 7 at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia, includes dedicated programming on space settlement, habitat design, and the technologies enabling long-duration human presence beyond Earth. The conference themes align closely with the National Space Society’s Roadmap to Space Settlement, which identifies sustainable off-world habitation as a critical milestone.
With speakers drawn from NASA, private industry, academia, and the international space community, ISDC provides a forum where the people designing humanity’s future homes in space connect with the policymakers, engineers, and advocates working to make them a reality.
👉 Explore the ISDC 2026 program and sessions
Frequently Asked Questions
What is space architecture?
Space architecture is the discipline of designing habitats and built environments for human use beyond Earth. It integrates architecture, engineering, human factors research, materials science, and robotics to create structures that support human life on the Moon, Mars, and in orbital environments.
What is NASA’s CHAPEA program?
CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) is a NASA program that places four-person crews inside a 3D-printed Mars habitat at Johnson Space Center for year-long simulated Mars missions. The program studies how habitat design and mission conditions affect crew health and performance. The second mission is currently underway and scheduled to conclude in October 2026.
Can habitats be 3D-printed on the Moon or Mars?
Researchers and companies are actively developing 3D printing systems that can process lunar and Martian soil into building materials. NASA’s MMPACT project is testing these technologies, and the CHAPEA habitat at Johnson Space Center was itself 3D-printed as a proof of concept for off-world construction methods.
Who is Melodie Yashar?
Melodie Yashar is a space architect, technologist, and founder of AENARA. She played a lead role in designing and constructing NASA’s CHAPEA habitat. She co-founded Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+) and previously served as VP of Building Design and Performance at ICON. She is a featured speaker at ISDC 2026.
How does ISDC 2026 address space architecture and habitat design?
ISDC 2026 features sessions on space settlement, habitat design, and construction technologies for the Moon and Mars. Featured speaker Melodie Yashar will present on off-world habitat development. The conference brings together architects, engineers, researchers, and policymakers working on these challenges.