Introducing the 10 technologies set to purify water frozen in the Moon’s soil
July 23, 2024
Ten cutting-edge teams of innovators, engineers and scientists, that are developing new technologies to provide a permanent crewed base on the Moon with reliable water supplies, have been named UK finalists in the Aqualunar Challenge.
The finalist solutions all aim to purify the lunar ice which exists in the soil around the lunar south pole. For a permanent crewed base on the moon to be possible, astronauts will need a reliable supply of water for drinking and growing food, as well as oxygen for air and hydrogen for fuel.
The ideas utilise cutting-edge technology as well as adapting existing systems, to help make NASA’s goal of establishing a base by the end of the decade viable. The Artemis campaign, as it is known, is supported by the UK Space Agency through its membership of the European Space Agency. Ideas range from using a combination of UV light from LEDs to rapidly break down harmful organic and inorganic components in the lunar soil to create safe drinking water, to a curved mirror to focus the Sun’s rays on an air-locked crucible where lunar ice is placed by a small, automated crane.
“The lunar environment is unforgiving. The technologies being developed must have minimal maintenance – they cannot rely on components being sent up from Earth and it won’t be possible for astronauts to regularly change filters and tighten nuts and bolts.” – Meganne Christian, Reserve Astronaut and Commercial Exploration Lead at UK Space Agency and chair of the Aqualunar Challenge judging panel
Who are the UK finalists?
Congratulations to the 10 UK finalist teams, listed below.
- AquaLunarPure: Supercritical Water Purification on the Moon – developed by Queen Mary University of London.
- Cyclic Volatile Extractor (CVE) – developed by Minima Design Ltd, Suffolk.
- FRANK – Filtered Regolith Aqua Neutralisation Kit – developed by RedSpace Ltd, Aldershot/Cleethorpes/Richmond (North Yorkshire).
- Ganymede’s Chalice: Solar Concentrator Distillation for Clean Water Production – developed by British Interplanetary Society, London.
- I-LUNASYS: Innovative lunar water resource system – developed by Perspective Space-Tech Ltd, London.
- Lunasonic – developed by Shaun Fletcher and Dr Lukman Yusuf, School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow.
- Regolith Ice Plasma Purifier for Lunar Exploration (RIPPLE) – developed by Regolithix Ltd, West Yorkshire.
- SonoChem System – developed by Naicker Scientific Ltd, Gloucestershire.
- Static Water Extraction System (SWES) – developed by Interstellar Mapping, London.
- Titania-Diamond Annular Reactor (TiDAR) – developed by Nascent Semiconductor Ltd, County Durham.
What’s next?
The 10 UK teams will now be awarded £30,000 each to develop their technologies, ahead of their final submissions in January 2025. They will also receive extensive non-financial support, including:
- Technical support
- Design support
- Commercialisation support
- Mentoring
- Networking and events, including opportunities for international collaboration
It is hoped that the technologies developed for the harsh environment of space will also be deployed on Earth, particularly in water-stressed regions and where access to clean drinking water is limited.
UK Space Agency and Challenge Works are working in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Impact Canada to deliver the Aqualunar Challenge.
CSA will announce its successful cohort of teams later today.
