How to build in space for life on Earth | Ariel Ekblaw

Summary

TED Talks Daily: "How to Build in Space — for Life on Earth" by Ariel Ekblaw

Release Date: May 30, 2025
Host: Elise Hu
Speaker: Ariel Ekblaw, Space Architect

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Introduction

In the TED Talks Daily episode titled "How to Build in Space — for Life on Earth," space architect Ariel Ekblaw presents a visionary approach to utilizing space infrastructure not just for exploration but as a catalyst for solving some of humanity's most pressing challenges on Earth. Hosted by Elise Hu, the episode delves into Ariel's innovative concepts and the practical implications of her work.

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The Importance of Space Exploration

Ariel begins by addressing a fundamental question often posed by skeptics of space exploration:

“I once had a professor ask me, why in the world do we spend so much money on space exploration in the face of so many pressing challenges here on Earth?” (00:04:02)

She argues that space exploration is essential for generating new knowledge and technological advancements that benefit humanity. Ariel emphasizes that our understanding of the universe is limited, and the pursuit of space exploration drives us to expand these boundaries.

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Innovations from Space Programs

Highlighting historical and contemporary contributions, Ariel showcases how space programs have consistently delivered breakthrough innovations:

“The Apollo program gave us the foundation of modern computing. The International Space Station gave us Lasik eye surgery...” (00:04:02)

She points out that current advancements in space technology are paving the way for life-saving biotech innovations in orbit and space-based energy solutions. The dramatic reduction in the cost of reaching space—from over $50,000 per kilogram during the NASA shuttle era to under $200 per kilogram today—has made these innovations more feasible and scalable.

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Challenges of Current Space Infrastructure

Ariel identifies critical limitations in existing space infrastructure:

“The bottleneck isn't rockets anymore, it's real estate.” (00:04:02)

She explains that the International Space Station (ISS), although a monumental achievement, is aging, cramped, and set to be decommissioned by 2030. Building in space with current methods is slow, difficult, and dangerous, relying heavily on manual assembly by astronauts wearing bulky spacesuits. This approach is not scalable for future needs.

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Autonomous Robotic Self-Assembly: Ariel’s Solution

To address the scalability issue, Ariel introduces her groundbreaking solution inspired by nature’s self-assembling systems:

“We have invented a system to grow space structures in orbit using autonomous robotic self-assembly.” (00:04:02)

Drawing from her PhD research at MIT, Ariel and her team at Aurelia Institute developed a modular system using electropermanent magnets that enable structural "tiles" to autonomously dock and build themselves in space—akin to "space Legos."

Key components of this system include:

• Modular Tiles (Tesserae): Each tile is equipped with strong electropermanent magnets that autonomously connect with others.
• Self-Assembling Structures: These tiles form reusable, reconfigurable space habitats without the need for astronauts or robotic arms.
• Scalability: Multiple self-assembling modules can connect to form larger structures, vastly increasing space infrastructure capacity.

Ariel notes the successful testing of this technology aboard the ISS, collaborating with astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria to refine the autonomous assembly process.

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Applications for Life on Earth

Ariel outlines several transformative applications of her space-building technology that directly benefit life on Earth:

1. Biotech Manufacturing in Microgravity:

   • Protein Crystals & Tissue Growth: Enhanced quality and speed of biological samples, enabling breakthroughs in drug discovery.
   • Example Quote: “Whether it's exceptional quality organoids for testing Alzheimer's drugs... these therapies would be made in space, stabilized, and brought back down to earth.” (00:04:02)

2. Space-Based Energy Solutions:

   • Solar Power Satellites: Assembling thousands of solar panels in orbit to capture and beam unfiltered sunlight to Earth, effectively solving the solar energy storage problem.
   • Impact: Provides abundant green energy, addressing global energy needs sustainably.

3. Off-Worlding Heavy Industry:

   • Reducing Earth's Industrial Burden: Moving heavy industries to space to allow Earth to recover and thrive as a "garden planet."
   • Long-Term Vision: Utilizing space infrastructure to support Earth's environmental sustainability for future generations.

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Vision for the Future

Ariel envisions a future where space infrastructure is integral to both space exploration and terrestrial advancements:

“Space exploration isn't about escaping Earth... it's about building an aspirational future for humanity.” (00:04:02)

Key elements of her vision include:

• Accessibility: Making space affordable and accessible, enabling activities such as weekend space travel and long-term scientific research.
• Economic Growth: Contributing to a projected trillion-dollar space economy through innovative technologies and infrastructure.
• Sustainable Integration: Ensuring that advancements in space technology are leveraged for the betterment of Earth, protecting its environment while expanding human horizons.

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Conclusion

Ariel Ekblaw’s talk underscores the symbiotic relationship between space exploration and Earth’s future. By developing autonomous robotic self-assembly systems, she demonstrates how space infrastructure can be rapidly scaled to support both extraterrestrial habitation and critical advancements in biotechnology and renewable energy on Earth. Her work embodies the belief that investing in space is not an escape from Earth’s problems but a strategic move to create solutions that ensure the longevity and prosperity of human civilization.

“We can profoundly expand humanity's horizons while still protecting the heritage of our priceless planet.” (00:04:20)

Ariel concludes by advocating for a balanced approach where space and Earth advancements go hand in hand, fostering a sustainable and innovative future for all.

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Notable Quotes

• On the Necessity of Space Exploration:

  “Should we be building a future life in space? I want to argue yes...” (00:04:02)

• On Technological Advancements:

  “Lasik eye surgery contributed to that amazing technology.” (00:04:02)

• On Autonomous Construction:

  “We don't require astronauts or even robotic arms to go out and do slow or risky spacewalks...” (00:04:02)

• On the Future Vision:

  “If we invest now in space infrastructure...we can profoundly expand humanity's horizons while still protecting the heritage of our priceless planet.” (00:14:02)

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Final Thoughts

Ariel Ekblaw’s presentation on TED Talks Daily offers a compelling narrative on how space infrastructure can be leveraged to address earthly challenges. By merging innovative engineering with visionary foresight, she provides a roadmap for a future where space and Earth coexist in a mutually beneficial relationship, ensuring sustainable progress and the preservation of our planet for generations to come.

Transcript

[Elise Hu]

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[Ariel Ekbla]

In Philadelphia, democracy isn't just in the past, it's in motion. From the steps of Independence hall to the voices shaping tomorrow, this city stands at the crossroads of history and possibility. 250 years after the nation's founding ideals took root here, Philadelphia is once again a gathering place for bold ideas. TED Democracy Philadelphia will convene leading thinkers, advocates and change makers for a landmark event exploring the future of civic life. Walk the same streets as revolutionaries, join the conversation and experience brand new TED Talks that inspire action and ignite global dialogue. The future of democracy is being shaped right here. Visit Philadelphia and be a part of the story. Go to visitphilly.comted to find out more.

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[Elise Hu]

You're listening to TED Talks Daily where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. So, at the TED conference in Vancouver this past April, there was a huge geometric dome right outside of the main theater. Inside were cushions, plants on the walls, even a microscope. It was very cool. This was a large mock up of a space home. Yep, you heard that right. It was designed by space architect Ariel Ekbla and her team. I don't want to give too much else away, so I'll just say this. In her talk, she shares why space is not just a frontier for exploration, but also a platform for solving humanity's biggest challenges. Ariel says we must rethink how we live on Earth and and beyond for the betterment of human community and survival. And make sure to come back to this feed later this afternoon. Ariel and I actually got to sit down after her talk to hear more about the work and ideas she shared on stage.

[Unknown Speaker]

I once had a professor ask me, why in the world do we spend so much money on space exploration in the face of so many pressing challenges here on Earth? It's a good question and a tough one for me. Should we be building a future life in space? I want to argue yes, and tell you how I do believe in the beauty of space exploration for the sake of new knowledge. Because the little that we do know about our universe pales in comparison to what we do not yet know. And in some ways, it's in my blood. My parents are both pilots. My dad was an A10 fighter pilot and my mom was one of the first women to ever fly for the United States air Force. And 14 years ago, I floated in microgravity like an astronaut for the first time. This inspired me to work in aerospace for the rest of my life. But space exploration does so much more than just inspire. Our space program has routinely delivered breakthrough innovations. The Apollo program gave us the foundation of modern computing. The International Space Station gave us Lasik. Eye surgery contributed to that amazing technology. And now new technologies are coming online to enable life saving biotech in orbit and even deliver energy from space. What makes all of this possible? In the last 15 years, the cost to get to space has dropped dramatically from over $50,000 a kilogram in the NASA shuttle era to now under $200 a kilogram. With SpaceX's Starship coming online, this is remarkable. This is like FedEx. If you can ship something around the world, you can ship it to space. But the precursor space station where so much of this amazing work has been taking place, the International Space Station, it's getting old. It's very cramped and worse, it's about to be shut down. It's going to be decommissioned in 2030. 2031. We need new infrastructure and we need it fast. Unfortunately, current in space construction is quite slow, difficult and dangerous. All of the pieces of the International Space Station were assembled over 15 years by astronauts doing incredibly courageous and risky maneuvers in bulky spacesuits. Basically building some of the most advanced technology known to humankind by hand. This hand built method doesn't scale. Even if the cost to go to space dropped even more dramatically tomorrow we only have room for about 14 humans in orbit. And period. The bottleneck isn't rockets anymore, it's real estate. And we need a new solution for how to build in orbit and scale up space infrastructure for the public good. Nine years ago, I started working on this problem. Could we learn from nature, from plants and proteins that self assemble at a small scale and adapt us to the grandest scales in space? We know that when you're in free fall around a planet, you have the sensation of zero gravity. In that environment, forces like magnetism can bring together vast objects with ease. So first at MIT and now at Aurelia Institute, my team and I have invented a system to do just this. To grow space structures in orbit using autonomous robotic self assembly. The idea behind the method is to allow us to build reconfigurable space stations that are bigger than our biggest rockets. Based on my MIT PhD, we use electropermanent magnets, very special strong magnets that bring the modular tiles together to dock, to rendezvous. Essentially think about space Legos with magnets that click, click, click, click, click into place tesserae. What we call this space habitat is a self assembling structure. So we ship the modular parts to their destination, wherever they're meant to be. And once the tiles or the modules arrive, they build themselves. So we don't require astronauts or even robotic arms to go out and do slow or risky spacewalks and space maneuvers. And from there, after the tiles have come together to form one buckyball, multiple buckyballs can dock to form a larger space station. And the best part is that we have tested this in space twice. Michael Lopez Alegria on orbit inside the International Space Station, helping us test the code and the timing and the pacing for dynamic robotic self assembly in orbit. From here we build and fly and test, we iteratively prototype, we simulate the physics to be able to fine tune the construction method. And last year we built a human scale mockup of our space habitat. And we brought it on A roadshow across the country. What we hope to communicate to the public with these interiors Is a life worth living in space, or at least worth commuting to. Once we're in space, we can use the really unique environment of the vacuum of microgravity to manufacture things that can't be made on earth in low Earth orbit. We're working with partners to use the tesserae construction technology to assemble large volume, High throughput biotech factories. It turns out that in microgravity, Protein crystals Grow differently, Certain types of tissues Grow faster Or mature better, and we can even do novel drug discovery In a way that we can't do under the conditions Of Earth's gravity. We know that certain key biological samples Behave differently in space, Particularly when they're floating. So whether it's exceptional quality organoids for testing Alzheimer's drugs or cancer drugs, or artificial retinas that would cure macular degeneration, these therapies would be made in space, Stabilized, and brought back down to earth. A little bit further out between Earth and the sun, we're working to see if we can help startup energy companies Self assemble Thousands of solar panels in orbit above the atmosphere. Now, what this would allow us to do Is capture raw, unfiltered sunlight and beam it anywhere on earth, Even at night. This is like a flashlight from space, and it would fundamentally solve the storage problem for solar power, Allowing us to deliver Abundant green energy to the surface of the earth. These are some of the most responsible ways that we could use space technology in service of Earth. My team and I have been working on an idea Passionately known for decades in science fiction as off worlding. Not off worlding the humans, but off worlding the heavy industry. We could let Earth recover As a garden planet for generations to come and use space infrastructure to do that. Off worlding. And this future Is a lot closer Than you may think. While space travel definitely feels rarefied, and in many ways, it certainly still is. I bring dozens of people with me Every year Into microgravity on parabolic flights. This is how NASA trains astronauts, Affectionately known as the vomit comet. It's more fun than it sounds. And this is how we are training the new space generation. We're building architecture to welcome more people to orbit. Whether it's for a long weekend to see the planet from space for the first time, or maybe for a career scientist to commute for a decade to work on a major breakthrough. Rockets like starship Enable us to dream really big, to be able to get enough mass of tesserae tiles and enough people into orbit to be able to fundamentally scale up space infrastructure for the public good. We know that the business case for space is here. Governments are investing in space based solar power, companies are investing in zero G biotech, and in the next 10 years we believe that we will be able to deploy our first modularly self assembling space habitat and contribute to a trillion dollar space economy. And one of the best things we could do with this infrastructure is harness it for the profound benefit of life on Earth. Because fundamentally space exploration isn't about escaping Earth. In 1968, Bill Anders took this iconic photograph now lovingly referred to as Earth Earthrise and he famously remarked, we came all this way to explore the moon and the most important thing is we discovered the Earth. Bill's comment reminds us that space exploration is about building an aspirational future for humanity. Wherever we are on Earth, in orbit, around Earth or beyond, access to space is is cheap enough now and available enough. We need to update our conception of the possible. If we invest now in space infrastructure, if we invest now in space architecture, new paradigms for how we can build infrastructure in space, we can profoundly expand humanity's horizons while still protecting the heritage of our priceless planet. We don't have to pick one or the other. Someday we will live on Mars. Someday we will travel outside of the confines of our solar system. But until then, let's put space to work for Earth. Thank you.

[Elise Hu]

That was Ariel ekbla speaking at TED 2025. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out [e-mail] curationguidelines and that's it for today's show. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar and Tonsika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faizy Bogan. Additional support from Emma Topner and Daniela Ballarezzo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening. Support for this show comes from Capital One. Banking with Capital One helps you keep.

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[Ariel Ekbla]

In Philadelphia, democracy isn't just in the past, it's in motion. From the steps of Independence hall to the voices shaping tomorrow, this city stands at the crossroads of history and possibility. 250 years after the nation's founding ideals took root here, Philadelphia is once again a gathering place for bold ideas. TED Democracy Philadelphia will convene leading thinkers, advocates and change makers for a landmark event exploring the future of civic life. Walk the same streets as revolutionaries. Join the conversation and experience brand new TED talks that inspire action and ignite global dialogue. The future of democracy is being shaped right here. Visit Philadelphia and be a part of the story. Go to visitphilly.comted to find out more.