Developing Oxychalcogenide Membranes for Superconducting Power Transmission

The Artemis mission’s goal to establish a human base near the lunar south pole marks a significant step in humanity’s efforts to explore and utilize extraterrestrial environments. However, the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar south pole remain in complete darkness, making conventional solar power impractical for lunar workstations, sensors, and rover vehicles. In this project we will conduct fundamental and applied scientific research toward the development of new high-temperature superconducting power transmission lines. We will fabricate oxide-chalcogenide superconducting membranes to transmit high electrical power with no loss at temperatures comparable to that in the permanently shadowed regions. This development will have a significant impact on the establishment of a lunar base and its scientific operations near the lunar south pole.

This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.

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