The Lunar Economic Village Initiative (LEVI)

 

- A phased lunar infrastructure concept designed to enable a permanent human presence and a scalable lunar economy. The project focuses on supporting commercial lunar mining of Helium-3 and strategic minerals, with the goal of contributing to future energy production, industrial supply chains, and long-term sustainability on Earth.

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LEVI consists of two primary nodes: a Main Settlement located near the lunar south pole, optimized for long-duration habitation and in-situ resource utilization, and a Mining Outpost located in Oceanus Procellarum, positioned to support semi-autonomous surface mining operations. Together, these two sites are designed to sustain commercial astronaut crews while enabling continuous mining, processing, and export of lunar resources.

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The Main Settlement is built around regolith-based 3D-printed modular habitats utilizing ISRU materials. While the habitats share standardized exterior structures for efficient construction and scalability, their interiors are outfitted differently to support diverse operational roles. The interconnected modular layout allows the settlement to expand progressively through multiple development phases.

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Lunar surface mining and material transport are enabled by TREAD, a modular, autonomous lunar rover system developed as part of LEVI. TREAD is designed for crew, cargo, construction, strip mining, hauling, and surface logistics, operating in coordinated fleets to support continuous operation flow within Main Settlement and the Mining Outpost.

 

The Mining Outpost similarly employs ISRU construction techniques across its mining and processing infrastructure. Its operational scope includes mineral comminution, beneficiation, and extraction, with refined materials prepared for export to Earth for further processing.

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Both the Main Settlement and Mining Outpost are developed across five phased construction stages, with each phase expanding infrastructure capacity, operational capability, and autonomy. Phase V targets cost-effective, scalable lunar mineral export, forming the foundation for a sustainable lunar surface economy.

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This design project explores the architecture, zoning, systems integration, vehicle design, and visualization of the LEVI Main Settlement, Mining Outpost, and TREAD system. Additional technical detail is presented in the accompanying paper.

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Full project paper can be accessed here

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