Topic
In-Situ Resource Utilization is harvesting and processing local space materials, such as lunar ice or regolith, for propellant, water, or construction.
Chinese researchers made a 3D-printable 'living cement' from engineered yeast, gelatin and sand that reached 12 MPa of compressive strength. So far, its promise of Mars shelters printed from local dirt rests on tests with sand and on gelatin that would have to be launched from Earth.
Reality
Erika DeBenedictis of Pioneer Labs told more than two million X viewers her engineered Cupriavidus necator was "the first microbe for Mars." Researchers who reviewed the preprints, including NASA's Chris McKay, say it only grows in a sealed bioreactor and cannot alone revive a dead planet.
Reality
NASA Glenn engineers mixed simulated moon and Mars dust into a plastic that bacteria can produce and found the blend was stronger and easier to process. The agency says making it on site would let missions pack fewer supplies, but it has not said how much mass that would save.
Reality
NASA's 2026 NSTGRO roster puts 15 of its 35 titled projects on cislunar operations, resource processing, power and in-space assembly. Half of the remaining 20 go to entry, landing and propulsion, so the cohort reaches well beyond lunar infrastructure.
Reality
The advisory firm's range runs $343 billion to $566 billion through 2050. The $223 billion between those numbers is a bet on water ice, helium-3 and lunar data centres, and SpaceX now marks it quarterly.
Reality