He explained that the rigours of space constricted his usually colourful palette for the new work, titled We Rise Together – with the Light of the Moon, saying: “The moon is one of the most extreme environments imaginable.

“It’s 123C in the lunar daytime, and that drops to -173C at night. But the idea was that it would be there eternally.

“It’s on a gold-covered aluminium plate which is pretty much indestructible. I had to use a laser to etch the design. It had to be quite simple, and it couldn’t use colour.

“It is a heat motif, which is what I’m known for, and shows a couple in an embrace. It’s about that shared humanity.”

His work will be the first artwork officially placed on the Moon, although there is speculation that unofficial works have been surreptitiously left on the lunar surface by visiting astronauts.

Forrest Myers, a sculptor, has claimed that he was able to get a member of the Apollo 12 crew to sneak aboard a tiny ceramic tile featuring drawings by artists including Andy Warhol, which was then left on the Moon, but this has not been confirmed by Nasa.

Mr Jafri was approached to work on the latest mission, having previously created a 17,000 square-foot painting, the £46 million The Journey of Humanity, which claimed the record for the largest painting ever produced.

His artwork will be carried to the Moon this year as part of the Artemis programme, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the last mission to the moon in 1972.

The programme is estimated to cost in the region of £70 billion by the time it runs its course in 2024, and is part of Nasa’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, which buys up technology from businessmen keen to make their mark in a new space race. The programme has the backing of Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder.