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Whenever a spacecraft is subjected to forces, whether from maneuvering in orbit or docking with another vehicle, the motion imparts energy to the spaceship’s structure that causes it to vibrate and bend, Peck explained. Big spaceship, big problemsĪ structure of such massive proportions will also face unique problems. Still, that first requires launch infrastructure on the moon and is therefore not an option in the short term. The conventional approach would be to build components on Earth and then assemble them like Legos in orbit, said Peck, but 3D-printing technology could potentially turn compact raw materials into structural components of much larger dimensions in space.Īn even more attractive option would be to source raw materials from the moon, which has low gravity compared with Earth, meaning that launching materials from its surface into space would be much easier, according to Peck. “If we’re talking about something that is simply long and not also heavy then it’s a different story,” Peck said.īuilding techniques could also reduce the cost of getting a behemoth spaceship into space. The ISS is packed with equipment and is designed to accommodate humans, which significantly increases its mass. Much depends on what kind of structure the Chinese plan to build, though. The International Space Station (ISS), which is only 361 feet (110 meters) wide at its widest point according to NASA, cost roughly $100 billion to build, Peck said, so constructing something 10 times larger would strain even the most generous national space budget.

“I would describe the problems here not as insurmountable impediments, but rather problems of scale.”īy far the biggest challenge would be the price tag, noted Peck, due to the huge cost of launching objects and materials into space. “I think it’s entirely feasible,” Peck, now a professor of aerospace engineering at Cornell University, told Live Science. The project might sound like science fiction, but former NASA chief technologist Mason Peck said the idea isn’t entirely off the wall, and the challenge is more a question of engineering than fundamental science. If funded, the feasibility study would run for five years and have a budget of 15 million yuan ($2.3 million). The foundation wants scientists to conduct research into new, lightweight design methods that could limit the amount of construction material that has to be lofted into orbit, and new techniques for safely assembling such massive structures in space. A research outline posted on the foundation’s website described such enormous spaceships as “major strategic aerospace equipment for the future use of space resources, exploration of the mysteries of the universe, and long-term living in orbit.” The project is part of a wider call for research proposals from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, a funding agency managed by the country’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

But how feasible is the idea, and what would be the use of such a massive spacecraft?

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China is investigating how to build ultra-large spacecraft that are up to 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) long.