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Completed TRL 3 (started at 2, targeting 3)
NASA’s plans to establish a sustained Lunar presence for scientific research, Mars mission preparation, and a thriving commercial Lunar economy will require significant surface infrastructure. The use of in situ resources enables a more economical and sustainable approach to constructing this infrastructure, while providing an alternative source of rare Earth minerals for terrestrial use. Lunar regolith contains an abundance of Si and Al in anorthite, Fe and Ti in ilmenite, magnesium, and other REEs in mare regolith, that can be used for in-situ construction. However, traditional Earth mining processes are not economically feasible on the moon, due to high energy demands, labor needs, high mass transport costs for consumable reagents, lower ore quality, and potential environmental and safety impacts. NASA seeks space mining technologies to extract metals and feedstocks from Lunar regolith that are 1) autonomous, 2) robust to the Lunar surface environment 3) reduce the mass of raw material (ore) transported from the mine to the processor; 4) are economically feasible; and 5) efficiently regenerate and/or recycle reagents used. The proposed EcoMine™ is a bioregenerative mining facility for use on the Lunar surface. The goals of this project are to demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of the EcoMine™ concept to autonomously, safely, and efficiently extract minerals from Lunar regolith and prepare for future technology development. Phase I objectives are to: 1) Investigate the EcoMine™ process safety and product quality; 2) Investigate the reliability of the EcoMine™ operation on the moon; 3) Assess the economic feasibility of the EcoMine architecture compared with chemical mining practices; and 4) Identify key architecture elements and process parameters for future verification & validation.
NASA: EcoMine™ is a major step towards a viable, sustainable Lunar space mining economy withseveral innovative features relative to state-of-the-art, including improved safety, lowerenergy demands, little to no mass for consumable reagents, improved extraction efficiencyfor low grade ore, autonomy (requiring little human operator time), and mobility to reduce the distance between excavation, processing, and regolith disposal. This technology willsupport NASA’s plans to establish a sustained Lunar presence for scientific research, Marsmission preparation, and a thriving commercial Lunar economy, through the Artemisprogram, Moon to Mars campaign, and Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD),e.g., Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative. Non-NASA: EcoMine™ closed-loop bioregenerative mining offers commercial Lunar mine operators anenvironmentally safe and more profitable way to recover minerals from regolith needed forLunar surface construction, as well as rare elements of value on Earth (REE), with lessenergy consumption, higher extraction efficiency, and significantly less mass transportcosts than traditional chemical mining solutions. EcoMine™ is a major step towards aviable, sustainable lunar economy. Commercial customers (end-users) include Lunarinfrastructure construction companies as well as REE suppliers on Earth.
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This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — 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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