ISRU Technology Developments at the DLR Institute of Space Systems

The Synergetic Material Utilization (SMU) research group was founded in 2021 at the DLR Institute of Space Systems in Bremen with the primary focus on combining Life Support Systems and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) systems. The group works on a combination of laboratory-scale experimental setups in relevant environments and simulations to contribute to the development of ISRU technologies for Moon and Mars. One research area is regolith beneficiation, which resulted in the development of a laboratory scale model for a multi-stage beneficiation testbed. The testbed achieved a three-fold increase in the ilmenite weight concentration compared to the unprocessed input regolith. The goal is to further develop particle size sorting and magnetic mineral enrichment processes. Another research area is water extraction and purification for in-situ propellant and consumables production. Here, the SMU group has led the EU-funded LUWEX project. Its objective is to extract, capture, and purify water from lunar icy regolith, reaching Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4/5. Along with validating this water process chain in a relevant lunar simulated environment, the project developed a novel method to produce an icy regolith simulant. As a foundation for LUWEX, an experimental study was performed on the solubility of regolith simulants in water. Additionally, several feasibility studies have been performed on different ISRU topics. One system analysis focused of an ISRU production plant to extract oxygen and metals. Furthermore, a second analysis on the oxygen production costs and logistics on the Moon surface was carried out, leading to the conclusion that the location with the best resources is the main driver in location selection. A third study was conducted on extracting minerals on Mars suitable for plant cultivation. This manuscript gives a comprehensive overview about the results of the different research and development activities carried out since 2021.