XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 341
products that can significantly reduce mission cost
and risk or enable new mission options, such as
utilizing local resources (both natural resources,
such as regolith, water, atmosphere, etc., as well
as crew trash, waste, discarded hardware, etc.) to
produce water, propellant, and other consumables,
and capabilities to excavate and construct struc-
tures on an extraterrestrial body. ISRU pathways
include commercial-scale water, oxygen, and met-
als consumables for humans and food production
feedstock for construction, manufacturing, and
energy and commodities for reusable in-space and
surface transportation and depots.
For successful implementation, ISRU systems and
capabilities must obtain products and services
from other lunar systems and infrastructure, and
ISRU systems and operations require customers/
users to utilize the products/commodities they pro-
duce. Lunar support services and infrastructure for
ISRU systems include material transfer and asset
movement between ISRU resource extraction,
processing, waste tailing, product storage sites,
handling and manipulation of resources and bulk
regolith, local navigational aids, communications
to/from and within ISRU operational sites, power
transmission and management, crew and robotic
logistics management, maintenance, and repair
capabilities, and construction of roads and infra-
structure to/from and on the ISRU operation sites.
To achieve the full benefits of using in-situ derived
products and to meet the intent of Moon to Mars
Objective OP-11, customer/users need to design
their systems and concepts of operation around the
availability and location of these products and how
they can be provided. To minimize the risk to the
Artemis campaign and ISRU product customers,
NASA and its partners must plan a transition of
Earth-delivered to ISRU-derived products, along
with adequate resource mapping and demonstra-
tion of the ISRU processes and product quality.
Earth’s population has reached eight billion, and although
growth is slowing, is expected to exceed ten billion by the
2080s (United Nations 2022). The increasing value of an
ecologically balanced, human-supportive environment on
Earth also will make extra-terrestrial sourcing of some min-
erals attractive sooner than of others rare earth elements
(due to the environmental risks inherent in their current
processing methods) may be economic to produce off-
Earth for Earth consumption sooner than, say, construction
aggregate (low unit value unable to support long transport
distances or delays).
Production Targets
Space exploration efforts such as those planned by NASA
and other government space agencies will be the first cus-
tomers for products made from space resources. These
products include propellants (particularly oxygen) for
spacecraft, and structural materials for construction of sur-
face infrastructure a broader range will come into play as
human presence off-Earth grows (Zubrin 2023). Currently
the main focus is on the Moon as a destination in its own
right and also as a stepping stone to Mars. The lunar and
martian commodities of current interest, in order of devel-
opment, are:
1. Oxygen, water, and regolith (bulk and processed)
2. Metals (raw and refined)—aluminum, iron,
titanium
3. Manufacturing feedstock fuels, plastics and hydro-
carbons food/nutrient feedstock
Production levels for the Artemis Program and beyond are
estimated in four categories (Werkheiser 2023):
• Commercial scale water, oxygen, metals:
– Tens of metric tons of commodities per year for
initial commercial usage
– Scalable to hundreds-thousands metric tons per year
• In situ-derived feedstock for construction, manufac-
turing, and energy:
– Hundreds to thousands metric tons of regolith for
construction
– Tens to hundreds metric tons of metals, plastics,
and binders
– Materials for multi-megawatts of energy genera-
tion and storage
• Commodities (mostly propellants) for commercial
reusable in-space and surface transportation and
depots:
– Thirty to sixty metric tons per lander mission
– Hundreds to thousands metric tons per year for
cis-lunar space
– Hundreds metric tons per year for human trans-
portation to Mars
• Commodities for habitats and food production:
– Water, fertilizers, carbon dioxide, and other crop
growth support
– Crop production facilities and processing systems
– Consumables for life support, outdoor activities,
and crew rovers/habitats
– Amounts to be determined
products that can significantly reduce mission cost
and risk or enable new mission options, such as
utilizing local resources (both natural resources,
such as regolith, water, atmosphere, etc., as well
as crew trash, waste, discarded hardware, etc.) to
produce water, propellant, and other consumables,
and capabilities to excavate and construct struc-
tures on an extraterrestrial body. ISRU pathways
include commercial-scale water, oxygen, and met-
als consumables for humans and food production
feedstock for construction, manufacturing, and
energy and commodities for reusable in-space and
surface transportation and depots.
For successful implementation, ISRU systems and
capabilities must obtain products and services
from other lunar systems and infrastructure, and
ISRU systems and operations require customers/
users to utilize the products/commodities they pro-
duce. Lunar support services and infrastructure for
ISRU systems include material transfer and asset
movement between ISRU resource extraction,
processing, waste tailing, product storage sites,
handling and manipulation of resources and bulk
regolith, local navigational aids, communications
to/from and within ISRU operational sites, power
transmission and management, crew and robotic
logistics management, maintenance, and repair
capabilities, and construction of roads and infra-
structure to/from and on the ISRU operation sites.
To achieve the full benefits of using in-situ derived
products and to meet the intent of Moon to Mars
Objective OP-11, customer/users need to design
their systems and concepts of operation around the
availability and location of these products and how
they can be provided. To minimize the risk to the
Artemis campaign and ISRU product customers,
NASA and its partners must plan a transition of
Earth-delivered to ISRU-derived products, along
with adequate resource mapping and demonstra-
tion of the ISRU processes and product quality.
Earth’s population has reached eight billion, and although
growth is slowing, is expected to exceed ten billion by the
2080s (United Nations 2022). The increasing value of an
ecologically balanced, human-supportive environment on
Earth also will make extra-terrestrial sourcing of some min-
erals attractive sooner than of others rare earth elements
(due to the environmental risks inherent in their current
processing methods) may be economic to produce off-
Earth for Earth consumption sooner than, say, construction
aggregate (low unit value unable to support long transport
distances or delays).
Production Targets
Space exploration efforts such as those planned by NASA
and other government space agencies will be the first cus-
tomers for products made from space resources. These
products include propellants (particularly oxygen) for
spacecraft, and structural materials for construction of sur-
face infrastructure a broader range will come into play as
human presence off-Earth grows (Zubrin 2023). Currently
the main focus is on the Moon as a destination in its own
right and also as a stepping stone to Mars. The lunar and
martian commodities of current interest, in order of devel-
opment, are:
1. Oxygen, water, and regolith (bulk and processed)
2. Metals (raw and refined)—aluminum, iron,
titanium
3. Manufacturing feedstock fuels, plastics and hydro-
carbons food/nutrient feedstock
Production levels for the Artemis Program and beyond are
estimated in four categories (Werkheiser 2023):
• Commercial scale water, oxygen, metals:
– Tens of metric tons of commodities per year for
initial commercial usage
– Scalable to hundreds-thousands metric tons per year
• In situ-derived feedstock for construction, manufac-
turing, and energy:
– Hundreds to thousands metric tons of regolith for
construction
– Tens to hundreds metric tons of metals, plastics,
and binders
– Materials for multi-megawatts of energy genera-
tion and storage
• Commodities (mostly propellants) for commercial
reusable in-space and surface transportation and
depots:
– Thirty to sixty metric tons per lander mission
– Hundreds to thousands metric tons per year for
cis-lunar space
– Hundreds metric tons per year for human trans-
portation to Mars
• Commodities for habitats and food production:
– Water, fertilizers, carbon dioxide, and other crop
growth support
– Crop production facilities and processing systems
– Consumables for life support, outdoor activities,
and crew rovers/habitats
– Amounts to be determined