Interplanetary Colonization and Multi-Agent Systems: A Systematized Literature Review

Multi-agent systems (MASs) are increasingly proposed as key enablers for future lunar and Martian surface missions, offering scalable autonomy, improved resilience, and distributed task execution. However, the maturity and mission relevance of existing MAS research for sustained planetary colonization remain unclear. This study presents a systematized literature review of 38 MAS-focused papers identified through a PRISMAguided search. These papers collectively describe 79 unique MASs or application examples, which are categorized by application domain: exploratory and terrain mapping, construction and material transport, research, resource collection, and miscellaneous. Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) are assigned to assess the degree of validation and mission readiness. Findings show that MAS development is heavily concentrated at TRL I to TRL III, with exploration systems demonstrating the highest maturity and providing the only examples of TRL IV and TRL V. Construction, research, and resource collection applications remain largely conceptual or limited to simulation-based evaluation. Three major gaps are identified across the literature: the lack of high TRL demonstrations in planetary relevant environments, minimal integration across MAS functions needed for colony scale logistics, and the absence of human robot teaming approaches for multi-robot operations under communication delay. These results indicate that while MAS technologies possess strong conceptual foundations and promising autonomy capabilities, significant work is needed to transition them into robust, field ready systems suitable for long duration surface missions. This systematized review establishes a structured baseline for MAS development and highlights critical research directions required to support future interplanetary settlement architectures.