Synergetic Material Utilization - ISRU developments at the DLR Institute of Space Systems

Kurzfassung

Introduction Our solar system is full of resources that potentially can be exploited to greatly reduce the material required to be launched from Earth. Among these resources are water ice, hydrates, metals, regolith, rare earths, chemical compounds, volatiles and rare isotopes. Utilizing space resources would enable e.g. propellant production, in-space manufacturing or the construction of large structures which would otherwise be very expensive or not possible at all with material launched from Earth. The 2021-founded research group Synergetic Material Utilization (SMU) at the DLR Institute of Space Systems develops technologies to utilize these resources and also investigates synergies between ISRU and environmental control an life support systems (ECLSS). Research Activities Concrete activities of the SMU research group for the next 3-4 years are technology developments for regolith beneficiation, water extraction and purification for in-situ propellant and consumables production. These developments are complemented by a system study for a shared water-hydrogen-oxygen infrastructure with ISRU and ECLSS elements for a future habitat.