An artist’s rendering of Mars Science City.

The UAE has launched the Mars Science City project covering 1.9 million sq ft, making it the largest space stimulation city ever built that will provide a viable and realistic model to simulate living on the surface of Mars.

The Dh500-million ($136 million) project was unveiled by Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

The project will encompass laboratories for food, energy and water, as well as agricultural testing and studies about food security in the future. The science city will also boast a museum that will display humanity’s greatest space achievements, including educational areas meant to engage young citizens with space, and inspire in them a passion for exploration and discovery.

The walls of the museum will be 3D printed, using sand from the Emirati desert.

The science city project falls within the UAE’s objectives to lead the global scientific race to take people to Mars, and is part of the Mars 2117 Strategy, which seeks to build the first settlement on Mars in the next 100 years.

It will include advanced laboratories that simulate the red planet’s terrain and harsh environment through advanced 3D printing technology and heat and radiation insulation. 

The Mars Science City structure will be the most sophisticated building in the world, and will incorporate a realistic simulated environment replicating the conditions on the surface of Mars. The city will consist of several domes, with innovative construction techniques providing support for the structures. A team of Emirati scientists, engineers and designers, led by a team from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and Dubai Municipality will carry out the project, in cooperation with renowned architects Bjarke Ingels.