Building Blocks for the Dark-Ages EXplorer (DEX):Enabling a Lunar Radio Telescope and Advancing Multi-Purpose Infrastructure for Sustainable Lunar Presence

The deployment of a large radio telescope array on the Moon represents a transformative leap for both scientific discovery and technological innovation. The Dark-Ages EXplorer (DEX) concept envisions a large-scale, low-frequency radio array on the lunar surface, capable of conducting groundbreaking observations of the early universe. Achieving this ambitious goal requires an array of 1000-100,000 antennas, along with novel hardware and software platforms, posing significant engineering challenges. Historically, radio astronomy has been a catalyst for technological progress, and the advancements required for DEX could serve as foundational technologies for a wide range of applications. These innovations could not only enable scientific discovery but also support sustainable human presence on the Moon and terrestrial advancements. In this paper, we present key technological challenges identified in the recent Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) study, done in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA). Technological developments needed to bring DEX to reality have broader applications for future commercial and research activities on the Moon, including energy distribution, autonomous systems, thermal management, communications networks, software development, data management, signal processing, AI/ML, and distributed optimisation. By addressing these challenges, we aim to foster cross-sector collaboration and accelerate the development of technologies essential for a sustainable and scientifically productive future on the Moon. Thus, DEX serves not only as an observatory but also as a building block for sustainable lunar exploration and development.