The recovery of water ice from icy regolith in lunar permanently shadowed regions is of fundamental importance in developing lunar and cis-lunar economies for establishment of outposts and conducting exploration. Masten Space Systems has innovated rocketM, a system utilizing small rocket engines to excavate icy regolith using economically feasible amounts of energy in a durable, low-maintenance rover-mounted mining and processing system with a landed mass of 818 kg capable of operating in the lunar environment. Using water ice grades in regolith of 5–10%, the rocketM system is modeled to produce in excess of 426,000 kg of water ice per year. The system overcomes many of the maintenance and weight challenges of mining systems based on drilling or mechanical excavation, and the high energy use challenges of thermal mining systems.


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    Title :

    Rocket Mining for Lunar and Mars ISRU


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Handbook of Space Resources ; Chapter : 14 ; 491-520


    Publication date :

    2023-04-28


    Size :

    30 pages




    Type of media :

    Article/Chapter (Book)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English




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