The Director General of the European Space Agency Johann-Dietrich Woerner has proposed creating an international village on the moon, partly as an apolitical way to bring more countries into the space program, and partly as a way to realistically pursue new frontiers in cosmic exploration.

 Although NASA is currently investigating 3D printing a base on Mars, Woerner's proposed village would also enable scientists to test print much closer to home. The idea of 3D printing on the moon is not new–Foster + Partners previously worked with the ESA to design a 3D printed lunar module for four people from layers of regolith–but the village would be considerably more complex. As the BBC reports, Woerner said that “A Moon village shouldn’t just mean some houses, a church and a town hall. This Moon village should mean partners from all over the world contributing to this community with robotic and astronaut missions and support communication satellites.”