Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Material, and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D)   8

The Defense Sciences Office (DSO) at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of new materials, manufacturing, and design technologies to enable future structures to be built on orbit and/or on the lunar surface. The Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D) program will provide the foundational proof of concept that new materials science, manufacturing, and design technologies can be brought together to enable future structures to be produced in their native environments without the constraints imposed by launch. In addition, this program will also explore opportunities to leverage existing materials on the moon (e.g., regolith) as a resource for future lunar-derived materials and structures. Specific technologies of interest include high performance feedstock materials, mass- and energy-efficient off-Earth manufacturing methods, high performance lunar resource utilization capabilities, and new design paradigms that will revolutionize the mass efficiency and precision achievable by future structures.