To infinity and beyond

Austin-based 3D printing company tapped by NASA to build on the moon

50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing Celebration

The 3D-home builder will soon venture into a new frontier of space dimensions. Photo courtesy of Sugar Land Town Square

The Austin-based builder of 3D-printed homes, ICON, is making one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind by signing a $57 million contract with NASA to build on the moon.

According to a release from ICON, the company will soon venture into a new frontier of space dimensions. The contract, announced on November 29, was awarded to the company under NASA's Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. This program allows ICON to use the $57 million award to build their Olympus system, which adds to previous construction done by both NASA and the Department of Defense for exploration of the moon and beyond.

"ICON’s Olympus system is intended to be a multi-purpose construction system primarily using local lunar and Martian resources as building materials to further the efforts of NASA as well as commercial organizations to establish a sustained lunar presence," the release stated.

The project will work in conjunction with NASA's Artemis program, which launched its first rocket in 50 years on November 15. ICON will work with the program to:

Use lunar regolith samples brought back from Apollo missions, in addition to other regolith simulants, to see their mechanical behavior in lunar gravity.
Bring advanced hardware and software into space through a lunar gravity simulation flight.
Create results to inform future lunar construction approaches for the space community.
Establish critical infrastructure necessary for a sustainable lunar economy and habitation.

“The final deliverable of this contract will be humanity’s first construction on another world, and that is going to be a pretty special achievement," said Jason Ballard, ICON co-founder and CEO.

"It's a construction system we call Olympus system that will allow us to use the local materials of the moon to build all the elements of infrastructure necessary for a lunar outpost and ultimately a moon base ... launch and landing pads, roadways, habitats, you name it, all the things on the moon," said Ballard.

He added that they hope to start building on the moon by 2026, starting with a launch and landing pad.

In addition to the grant, ICON was awarded a subcontract in 2021 to support NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate to create the world's first and only simulated 3D-printed Mars surface habitat. Called Mars Dune Alpha, it is located at NASA's Johnson Space Center and is assisting in long-duration science missions.

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Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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State of innovation

Texas improves ranking on annual report of most innovative states

Texas network, constellation style us state map.

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Texas ranks above average — but outside the top 10 — in a new index that ranks the most innovative states.

To come up with its Most and Least Innovative States ranking, personal finance website WalletHub looked at 25 key indicators of innovation for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. These include a state’s share of STEM professionals, research and development spending per capita, and the proliferation of tech companies.

With an innovation score of 48.96 out of 100, Texas lands at No. 13 on the list. The District of Columbia stands atop the list, with an innovation score of 69.79, followed by Massachusetts, California, Colorado, and Washington.

Texas has steadily inched up the list — the state was No. 14 on the list in 2024 and has climbed up one spot each year since 2021.

Two components make up each state’s score: human capital and “innovation environment.” Texas ranks 14th in the human capital category and 13th in the innovation environment category.

“The most innovative states are especially attractive to people who have majored in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, as they offer abundant career opportunities and investment dollars, both for jobs at existing companies and for startups,” says WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. “These states also instill young students with the skills they need to succeed in the current workforce, skills which are useful whether or not they pursue a STEM career.”

Despite not placing in the top 10 of the WalletHub index, Texas continues to produce thousands of jobs.

Citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas added the most nonfarm jobs in January (27,900) of any state and the most nonfarm jobs from January 2024 to January 2025 (187,700).

“Texas is America’s jobs engine, adding more new jobs in the last year than any other state,” Abbot said in a news release. “Our skilled and growing workforce and our business-friendly climate attract job-creating businesses in diverse industries from across the country and around the world.”

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.

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