Foster + Partners designs 50-metre-tall "solar energy tower" for moon infrastructure

UK architecture studio Foster + Partners has released designs of a solar panel-lined tower for use on the moon as part of a project with NASA and 3D printing studio Branch Technology.

The design includes a video of the solar tower with a circular cap rising upwards from a base, expanding into the atmosphere while cord-like scaffolding extends below.

Once the tower is fully extended, sail-like arrays of solar panels would unfold outwards and flip downwards. Renders show multiple towers distributed between structures on the moon's surface.

According to Foster + Partners, the project was designed to showcase the importance of "power and communications networks" on the moon.

"To develop a sustainable presence on the moon, Mars, and beyond, will require the installation of significant infrastructure, such as power and communications networks," said the studio.

"Foster + Partners and Branch Technology are designing and optimising a 50-metre-tall tower, which could support solar panels to enable power infrastructure for the Lunar South Pole."

The project was presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, as part of Foster + Partners' From Earth to Space and Back exhibition, which showcases the studio's other speculative space projects, such as a moon habitation released in 2013.

It is part of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I program award. The program works with small businesses and research institutions for innovation.

The studio continues to "refine feasibility studies for lunar and mars habitations", it told Dezeen.

"The science fiction fantasies and inspirations of my youth are the project realities of today," said Foster + Partners founder Norman Foster in a statement. "Designing for space is about pushing the boundaries of innovation."

"The challenges we face in creating sustainable habitats on the moon or Mars have inspired groundbreaking solutions for zero waste and zero emissions buildings on Earth. The technologies and materials developed for space exploration can revolutionize how we build and live in harsh climates, making our planet more resilient and sustainable."

Foster + Partners Earth to Space and Back exhibition is on view as part of the larger Earth to Space: Arts Breaking the Sky festival at the Kennedy Center, which brings together a number of space professionals and artists in anticipation of NASA's upcoming mission to return humans to the moon.

It joins a number of projects in development for space by major architecture firms, such as a data-storage hardrive by BIG and an inflatable community by SOM.

The imagery is courtesy of Foster + Partners

Earth To Space is on view from 28 March to 20 April. For more events in architecture and technology around the world, see Dezeen Events Guide. 

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