Refuge Sphere Lunar Village: A Modular Superconducting Habitat Architecture for Permanent Lunar Bases and Beyond — Technical Design Document v1.0
Complete technical design document for the Refuge Sphere Lunar Village — a permanent lunar base architecture based on interconnected superconducting spherical modules providing exact B = 0 magnetic shielding (Meissner effect, REBCO tape) and E = 0 electrostatic shielding (Faraday cage). Phase 1: seven spherical modules (hub Ø5m + six peripherals Ø3–5m) deployed via seven Starship launches, base for 8–10 crew. Phase 2: large central hub Ø10m assembled in situ using commercial REBCO superconducting tape, expanding to 20–30 persons, total habitable volume ~735 m³, 8 total launches. Key advantages over NASA Artemis, ESA Moon Village, and toroidal shielding concepts: no excavation required; exact B = 0 (vs B ≈ 0 of toroids); lunar thermal cycle exploited as cryogenic asset; modular scalability; dual use as habitat and emergency shelter. Direct application to Mars surface bases — eliminates underground placement entirely. Includes mass budget, launch analysis, internal habitat design, cryogenic architecture, REBCO tape winding strategy, repair/maintenance concept, and comparison with existing concepts.
Authors
- Enrico Titimali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-5624-3095)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-04-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19920193
- Primary Topic
- Planetary Science and Exploration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00