13 Oct 2025
At the recently concluded Australian Space Architecture Challenge (ASAC) 2025, the Design School at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University was awarded the second prize for the innovative project “Moon Metabolism: possibility of lava tube below the lunar surface: modular lunar settlement design for long term habitation” out of over 100 top university teams across 25 countries, demonstrating the School’s exceptional strength and innovative capabilities in cutting-edge international disciplines.
The XJTLU team was led by Assistant Professor Dr Zhelun Zhu and students Weiyi Wang, Xinle Tian, and Ke Yan from the Department of Architecture.
The Australian Space Architecture Challenge (ASAC 2025), organised by the Space Habitat Committee under the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) and hosted by the Australian Government and the Australian Space Agency this year, is one of the most influential design competitions in the field of space architecture.
This year’s event attracted participation from world-renowned institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Vienna University of Technology (Austria), and Harbin Institute of Technology (China).
The award-winning project by the XJTLU team aims to provide a groundbreaking design blueprint for a sustainable and flexibly expandable lunar settlement to meet the needs of long-term human habitation on the Moon, according to Dr Zhelun Zhu.
Dr Amit Srivastava (left), Chair of Australian Space Architecture Challenge (ASAC) 2025, and Dr Zhelun Zhu (right)
“A key highlight of the design is the placement of the main settlement modules within?lava tubes. This natural structure offers excellent protection for human habitats, effectively shielding against cosmic radiation, micrometeorite impacts, and extreme temperature fluctuations.
“Furthermore, the settlement utilises?prefabricated and inflatable modular units, significantly improving transportation efficiency from Earth and enabling flexible functional layout and expansion capabilities within the lunar subsurface.
“The entire ‘Moon Village’ plans for a complete life support and recycling system, striving for self-sufficiency. Its internal layout is closely designed around the daily life and work routines of astronauts, ensuring both living comfort and operational efficiency,” he said.
This design is not merely a bold vision but a highly feasible development roadmap. “We detailed the construction process: the base would initially expand downwards through lunar surface ‘skylights’, then use these initial nodes as footholds to gradually extend along the vast subsurface lava tube network, ultimately forming a sustainable and growable?underground lunar city,” Dr Zhu added.
The award-winning design was also publicly exhibited at the?Space Architecture Symposium?held at the?University of New South Wales (UNSW)?on?4 October, where it was reviewed and praised by global space experts and peers.
“This achievement marks another milestone for the XJTLU Design School in exploring the frontier interdisciplinary field of ‘Design + Space’, Dr Zhu commented. “It proves to the world that our students possess the capability to compete with top international universities and paints an exciting picture of a future where humanity becomes an ‘interplanetary species’.”
Story provided by Dr Zhelun Zhu
Edited by Yi Qian
13 Oct 2025