The Italian Space Agency (ASI) and Thales Alenia Space have cleared a major milestone for Italy’s future lunar habitat, with NASA validating the Multi‑Purpose Habitation (MPH) module through a Mission Concept Review on 18 September 2024. The review confirmed that the MPH design meets Artemis program criteria and is mature enough to advance to the next phase of development.
MPH is a pressurized, mobile surface habitat designed to become the first dedicated human living module on the Moon within the Artemis architecture. It will support two astronauts for missions of 7 to 30 days once per year, with the ability to host larger crews for short emergency stays. When uncrewed, the module is intended to continue running autonomous scientific experiments. Its operational lifetime is set at a minimum of ten years.
The cylindrical module is roughly 3 meters wide, 6 meters long and has a mass of about 15 tonnes. ASI’s green light following NASA’s review launches an estimated two‑year phase of detailed design and key technology development before construction of the first flight unit. The habitat, to be launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center around 2033, is a central element of a broader political and industrial agreement between Italy and the United States on lunar habitats, communications and science, aimed at enabling a sustained human presence on the Moon.