XArc is partnered with the Korea Institute for Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) research for planetary construction. ISRU refers to the production of useful materials from the resources available at a given location, such as using Mars or lunar soil (regolith) as a construction material. XArc was commissioned by KICT to conceptualize a building design for its Extreme Construction Research Center.
KICT is a science & technology government-sponsored research institute of the Republic of Korea. The space facility research center is to be located on the KICT campus at Goyang, South Korea. The facility houses one of the world’s largest vacuum chambers for space environment research of ISRU technology applications. Known as a “Dusty Thermal Vacuum Chamber” (DTVC) because it contains simulated lunar or Mars regolith within the chamber for testing planetary construction methods in excavation, robotics, drilling, and 3D printed habitat technologies.
The state-of-the-art vacuum chamber is designed to realize testing environments at ultralow temperatures and close to a vacuum state. The large vacuum chamber allows for the simulation of lunar and Mars regolith environments. The facility is available for use to the global space exploration community.