HEART CORE

Designed by Gabriele Listorti, Francesco Magenta, Federico Tosana

Academic year

2025/2026

An energy vehicle designed to give life and continuity to the first lunar colonies

Heart_Core was created in response to the extreme challenges of the Moon—an environment defined by violent temperature swings, intense radiation, and 14-day darkness cycles that make solar energy insufficient. To address this, the project introduces a vehicle equipped with a compact nuclear reactor powered by Uranium-235, capable of delivering approximately 30 kW of continuous power. The energy core is protected by a regolith shell that utilises the properties of lunar soil to shield against temperature variations and radiation, ensuring stability and uninterrupted function. Heart_Core becomes an “always-on” presence, supporting the expansion of early colonies and safeguarding their energy autonomy.


Thanks to its always-active core, the vehicle can wirelessly distribute energy to the colony, powering habitats, vehicles, and operational systems through power beaming. At the same time, it uses part of its energy to move and perform essential agricultural tasks inside protected greenhouses—activities such as ploughing and seeding, which are fundamental for producing fertile soil and enabling the first cultivations in Earth-like atmospheric chambers. Once a colony becomes self-sufficient, Heart_Core is designed to move on and initiate the same process in another area, becoming a traveling engine of lunar colonization.