The telescope has been funded under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, which fosters the development of some of the wildest and, as the name suggests, innovative projects that could one day revolutionize science and exploration missions.

Space agencies around the globe are trying to find the most imaginative and practical ways to make use of the resources already present on solar system bodies – such as the Moon and Mars – in order to make ambitious projects a reality. This is because in-situ resource utilization doesn't require massive amounts of materials to be transported from Earth into space at an average cost of US$10,000 for a 0.45-kg (1-lb) payload.

It is, therefore, hardly surprising that the idea of using the Moon's own geography to construct a vast radio telescope garnered NIAC investment.

Under the current proposal, a telescope lander, which would presumably host the main science payload, would descend to the center of a 3-5 km (1.8-3.1 mile) diameter crater located on the far side of the Moon. A separate lander, containing the rovers designed to construct the telescope, would land beyond the rim of the crater.