WE HAVE WINNING TECHNOLOGIES TO PURIFY WATER ON THE MOON
The Aqualunar Challenge was a £1.2m international challenge prize focused on making human habitation in space possible by finding ways to purify water buried beneath the Moon’s surface.
The Challenge was delivered by Challenge Works on behalf of the UK Space Agency in the UK, and by the Canadian Space Agency in partnership with Impact Canada.
We are thrilled to announce that The Aqualunar Challenge has now been won. Two runners-up and one grand prize winner were announced on 27th March 2025 as the three successful teams – receiving a combined total of £300,000 to take their innovations further.
The three winning teams were selected from 10 finalist teams who received £30,000 of seed funding, as well as a plethora of non-financial support in June 2024, to help them refine their solution before they entered their final submission in January 2025.
Meet the Winners
WATER PURIFICATION INNOVATION MATTERS BECAUSE:
It will accelerate space technology, while also having wide applications on Earth
It will increase our resources to potable water – to drink and to grow food
It will filter contaminants from lunar water that could be used as valuable resources
To survive on the Moon, astronauts will need water to drink and to grow food
It will help support a lunar economy in which supplies are not sourced entirely from the Earth
It will reduce how much water we need to send to space, enabling more effective future exploration
