346 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
that is, buried glacier remnants (Perry et al. 2023) that would
be accessible by autonomous drilling rigs (Mellerowicz et
al. 2022). Surface deposits of hydrated clay mixtures (Du et
al. 2023) and hydrated sulfates such as gypsum (Massé et al.
2012 van Susante et al. 2018) are somewhat more exten-
sive, but there may be enough hydrated minerals in “aver-
age” regolith planet-wide to extract water through relatively
low-level heating of larger ore volumes, in the third option
(Abbud-Madrid et al. 2016). This would expand the range
of possible landing/mining sites but would require the most
new equipment development. Table 1 compares the three
cases.
Small Bodies
Working with asteroids and comets is significantly different
from working on planetary bodies, and not just because
both gravity and consistent atmospheres are absent. Simply
staying in the vicinity is not trivial (e.g., Takahashi and
Scheeres 2021). Recent science missions have revealed
some of the additional issues, such as dodging gas jets
from comets (El-Maarry et al. 2019) and rocks spit from
asteroids (Agarwal 2020). The resources available in just
the near-Earth objects may become attractive once we are
able to create reliable models of the interiors of these bod-
ies (Agnan and Vennitsen 2021), though at present our
very sparse data comes from meteorites (e.g., DeMeo et al.
2022), sunlight reflected from surface material (e.g., Korda
et al. 2023), and gravitational effects on other bodies (e.g.,
Scheeres et al. 2020).
NEXT STEPS
Though a crucial part of sustained human economic expan-
sion into space, mineral processing research has waxed and
waned with the level of funding support, which is related
strongly to public perceptions. Today’s space resources
research field is a mixture of projects funded through mul-
tiple programs though NASA does not at present have
a single office focused exclusively on ISRU, it does have
multiple research and development funding mechanisms
that support some of the work needed to reach the initial
lunar pilot plant goal by 2033 (Werkheiser 2023). Whether
through fundamental or applied research, NASA is com-
mitted to work with industry to make mineral production
off-Earth feasible both technically and economically.
Most of the programs relevant to ISRU advancement
are managed by the NASA Space Technology Mission
Directorate (STMD), with some related to science and
exploration managed by the NASA Science Mission
Directorate (SMD), all in cooperation with the NASA
Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
(ESDMD). Programs are designed to support commercial
enterprises (young or mature, small or large) with or with-
out university collaboration Table 2 lists the main oppor-
tunities, which can be explored at https://techport.nasa
.gov/opportunities/stmd (overviews of NASA’s technology
investment categories are available at https://techport.nasa
.gov/framework).
Several companies are already working on developing
technology subsystems and procedures for manufacturing
propellants on the Moon (NASA 2018 McLaughlin 2019).
NASA recently asked the mineral production community
for help setting up a “demonstration on the scalable pro-
cessing of lunar regolith, to produce oxygen as the primary
product and potentially other collateral products such as
metals from the constituent regolith” (NASA 2023).* This
demonstration will be in addition to the resource-related
demonstrations already and soon-to-be scheduled to use
the launch capabilities available through the Commercial
Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program (NASA 2024b).
The data and experience gained from these demonstra-
tions will lead to a lunar pilot plant that is planned to be
operational by 2033 (Werkheiser 2023), followed by com-
mercially owned and operated production. NASA and
potentially other space agencies will be important custom-
ers, but the intent is to kick-start a self-sustaining space
economy.
*The information gathered thereby is informing a Request for
Proposals (RFP) to be published soon.
Table 1. Top-level comparison of water sources for Mars propellant production system.
Pre-crew Cargo
Missions,
number
Power for
Excavation/
Drilling,
kWe
Power for
Processing,
kWe
Production
Duration,
months
Subsystems to be
Matured 1st,
number
Send water from Earth 4 — 236 104 4
Borehole mining 3 28 236 78 5
Regolith mining 4 224 236 104 7
Source: Oleson et al. 2024
that is, buried glacier remnants (Perry et al. 2023) that would
be accessible by autonomous drilling rigs (Mellerowicz et
al. 2022). Surface deposits of hydrated clay mixtures (Du et
al. 2023) and hydrated sulfates such as gypsum (Massé et al.
2012 van Susante et al. 2018) are somewhat more exten-
sive, but there may be enough hydrated minerals in “aver-
age” regolith planet-wide to extract water through relatively
low-level heating of larger ore volumes, in the third option
(Abbud-Madrid et al. 2016). This would expand the range
of possible landing/mining sites but would require the most
new equipment development. Table 1 compares the three
cases.
Small Bodies
Working with asteroids and comets is significantly different
from working on planetary bodies, and not just because
both gravity and consistent atmospheres are absent. Simply
staying in the vicinity is not trivial (e.g., Takahashi and
Scheeres 2021). Recent science missions have revealed
some of the additional issues, such as dodging gas jets
from comets (El-Maarry et al. 2019) and rocks spit from
asteroids (Agarwal 2020). The resources available in just
the near-Earth objects may become attractive once we are
able to create reliable models of the interiors of these bod-
ies (Agnan and Vennitsen 2021), though at present our
very sparse data comes from meteorites (e.g., DeMeo et al.
2022), sunlight reflected from surface material (e.g., Korda
et al. 2023), and gravitational effects on other bodies (e.g.,
Scheeres et al. 2020).
NEXT STEPS
Though a crucial part of sustained human economic expan-
sion into space, mineral processing research has waxed and
waned with the level of funding support, which is related
strongly to public perceptions. Today’s space resources
research field is a mixture of projects funded through mul-
tiple programs though NASA does not at present have
a single office focused exclusively on ISRU, it does have
multiple research and development funding mechanisms
that support some of the work needed to reach the initial
lunar pilot plant goal by 2033 (Werkheiser 2023). Whether
through fundamental or applied research, NASA is com-
mitted to work with industry to make mineral production
off-Earth feasible both technically and economically.
Most of the programs relevant to ISRU advancement
are managed by the NASA Space Technology Mission
Directorate (STMD), with some related to science and
exploration managed by the NASA Science Mission
Directorate (SMD), all in cooperation with the NASA
Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate
(ESDMD). Programs are designed to support commercial
enterprises (young or mature, small or large) with or with-
out university collaboration Table 2 lists the main oppor-
tunities, which can be explored at https://techport.nasa
.gov/opportunities/stmd (overviews of NASA’s technology
investment categories are available at https://techport.nasa
.gov/framework).
Several companies are already working on developing
technology subsystems and procedures for manufacturing
propellants on the Moon (NASA 2018 McLaughlin 2019).
NASA recently asked the mineral production community
for help setting up a “demonstration on the scalable pro-
cessing of lunar regolith, to produce oxygen as the primary
product and potentially other collateral products such as
metals from the constituent regolith” (NASA 2023).* This
demonstration will be in addition to the resource-related
demonstrations already and soon-to-be scheduled to use
the launch capabilities available through the Commercial
Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program (NASA 2024b).
The data and experience gained from these demonstra-
tions will lead to a lunar pilot plant that is planned to be
operational by 2033 (Werkheiser 2023), followed by com-
mercially owned and operated production. NASA and
potentially other space agencies will be important custom-
ers, but the intent is to kick-start a self-sustaining space
economy.
*The information gathered thereby is informing a Request for
Proposals (RFP) to be published soon.
Table 1. Top-level comparison of water sources for Mars propellant production system.
Pre-crew Cargo
Missions,
number
Power for
Excavation/
Drilling,
kWe
Power for
Processing,
kWe
Production
Duration,
months
Subsystems to be
Matured 1st,
number
Send water from Earth 4 — 236 104 4
Borehole mining 3 28 236 78 5
Regolith mining 4 224 236 104 7
Source: Oleson et al. 2024
