--- title: "DARPA Requests Plans for “Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures”" description: "(DARPA is now seeking public input on its plans for massive \"bio-mechanical space structures\" that can be grown in orbit." date: "2025-03-02" modified: "2025-03-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/darpa-requests-plans-large-bio-mechanical-space-structures" categories: - "DARPA" - "Military" - "Off-World" - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "biological engineering" - "DARPA" - "megastructure" --- # DARPA Requests Plans for “Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures” ![(DARPA is now seeking public input on its plans for massive "bio-mechanical space structures" that can be grown in orbit.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — which has been known to fund the development of sci-fi-sounding ideas like [flying aircraft carriers]() or [massive streetlights on the Moon]() — is now seeking public input on its plans to construct massive "bio-mechanical space structures." As [spotted by *Gizmodo*](), the agency [filed a Request for Information]() this week for the eyebrow-raising concept. And while we're still not 100 percent sure exactly what they're going after, it sounds rad as hell. According to a description of the request, DARPA is looking into the "feasibility" of creating "useful space structures" over 1,600 feet in length that could "disrupt the current state-of-the-art and position biology as a complimentary component of the in-space assembly infrastructure." Possibilities, according to the document, include "tethers for a space elevator, grid-nets for orbital debris remediation, kilometer-scale interferometers for radio science, new self-assembled wings of a commercial space station for hosting additional payloads, or on-demand production of patch materials to adhere and repair micrometeorite damage." What DARPA wants to specifically look into are new methods and "technical insights" to create these "large, self-assembled, mechanically stable biological growths in space." There are plenty of advantages to having larger structures be constructed in space. For one, it's a whole lot cheaper than launching large components and other building materials from the Earth's surface. And beyond welding pieces of metal together, DARPA is peering much further into the future by wanting to harness biological engineering to exploit its "rapid growth properties" — which could one day be done with minimal human intervention. The agency used a tent as an analogy. "Given the structural material of the tent poles, biological growth mechanisms are envisioned to be the 'cover' of the tent," the document reads. In short, it's hard not to see DARPA's vision as a terrifying blob of space gloop — or "filler" — encompassing the necessary "electronics or structural materials." Is the agency trying to leapfrog a near future filled with conventionally built space stations by jumping straight to a hard sci-fi paradigm where space structures are grown through biological means, not built? It's certainly a pretty out-there concept, as we haven't even reached such a stage on Earth, where we've only started exploring concepts like using [mycelium as living building materials](). And how long scientists have to work on the idea remains unclear at best. Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency is set to [plow through the Department of Defense](), which could bring about mass layoffs amid other budget cuts. How lifesaving research into HIV/AIDS vaccines and Ebola, which [recently landed on DOGE's chopping block](), stack up to the importance of DARPA's grand visions of growing structures in space remains to be seen. In the meantime, DARPA is planning to hold a "sponsored workshop" in April to discuss relevant "future research." **More on DARPA:** *[DARPA Funding Plan to Build Huge Streetlight on the Moon]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()