Moon to Mars Oxygen and Steel Technology

Moon to Mars Oxygen and Steel Technology (MMOST) is an integrated system that can enable the production of metallic iron or steel and oxygen from lunar regolith, thereby providing a strong support for the exploration and development of the Moon. The MMOST has extensive heritage, utilizing technology developed and demonstrated by Pioneer Astronautics during a NASA SBIR Phase II program titled “Extraterrestrial Metals Processing” while leveraging supporting technologies established during other previous Pioneer NASA SBIR programs. The MMOST employs physical particle size sorting, electromagnetic regolith beneficiation, materials handling, hydrogen reduction, electrolysis, and melt-refining to produce metallic iron and oxygen products with minimized power requirements. Iron produced from beneficiated regolith can be used as-is or alloyed to manufacture steel components in support of human exploration and commercial development using additive manufacturing, machining, or casting technologies. The proposed MMOST will produce about 35 kilograms per day of iron while co-producing 10 kg per day of oxygen. Pioneer Astronautics has partnered with Colorado School of Mines (Mines) and Honeybee Robotics to provide the breadth and depth of expertise and facilities to demonstrate MMOST. Mines will use additive manufacturing methods to fabricate test articles from metal generated from reduced lunar regolith simulant. Following development and extensive component testing of the lunar manufacturing and in-situ resource utilization hardware by the Pioneer/Mines team in Colorado, the MMOST will be demonstrated as an integrated system in Honeybee Robotics vacuum chamber, bringing the technology to TRL6. At the conclusion of the two-year Phase II Sequential program, the MMOST hardware will be delivered to JSC, allowing further testing in conjunction with other technologies to continue.

The primary application of Moon to Mars Oxygen and Steel Technology (MMOST) is to establish lunar manufacturing using in-situ resources. The MMOST will advance to flight status through three stages. Development and demonstration of a MMOST flight experiment delivered to the Moon on a CLPS lander. Development and demonstration of a MMOST pilot unit to be delivered to the Moon by Artemis astronauts. Development and operation of a commercial MMOST system to support the NASA lunar base operations and the development of a cis-lunar economy.

MMOST H2/CO reduction techniques could lead to new terrestrial steel production technologies that have a much lower carbon emission footprint than the state of the art. Implementation of advanced iron and steel manufacturing techniques utilized by MMOST could lead to lower-mass, lower-power, and lower-cost terrestrial manufacturing hardware for processing of low-grade reserves.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 6) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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