NASA backs lunar resource extraction power research

(SpaceEnergy) NASA has awarded Interlune a US$6.9 million contract to develop technologies that will measure and extract gases from lunar soil, with the project expected to generate data on the energy requirements of recovering resources such as helium-3 and hydrogen from the Moon.

The 18-month, fixed-price contract, awarded through NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III programme, will fund development of a payload that captures in-situ measurements of volatile gases in lunar regolith while demonstrating resource extraction techniques. The payload is scheduled to fly on a commercial lunar lander mission in 2028.

A central objective of the mission is to determine how much energy is required to release and recover volatile gases by heating lunar regolith. The measurements are intended to improve understanding of the feasibility of in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU), a capability viewed as important for reducing the need to transport consumables from Earth during long-duration lunar missions.

The payload will include a robotic arm and scoop to collect regolith, a particle-sizing system, hardware to heat the material and release trapped gases, and a NASA-developed mass spectrometer to analyse the extracted volatiles. The system will investigate the abundance of helium-3 and hydrogen, two resources considered relevant for future space infrastructure and potential energy applications.

NASA said the project is intended to advance technologies that could support more self-sufficient lunar operations by validating resource prospecting and extraction techniques on the Moon. The data generated will inform the design of future ISRU systems, including the power requirements associated with large-scale resource recovery and processing.