ROXY - An economically viable process to produce oxygen and metals from regolith

Future exploration missions to the Moon and beyond will be dependent on the use of local resources, provided that they can be produced very efficiently such that their mass exceeds the mass of any needed consumables or spares to sustain the process. Metals and oxygen are among the most important resources to be made available, in particular with the aim of supporting an incremental human presence on the Moon and beyond. A method to produce these resources from local feedstock via the use of a compact, light, and process efficient facility ensuring high yields and low requirements for resupply of material from Earth will therefore represent a strong enabler for several exploration scenarios. Among the many methods that have been studied so far, molten salt electrolysis with solid oxide membranes is very promising since it meets those basic criteria. A specific implementation of this method to lunar applications called ROXY (Regolith to Oxygen and Metals) has been developed and tested, and the design and operations of related demonstration and production facilities have been investigated. Performance figures of such facilities such as mass and power consumption in relation to the mass of produced materials are very attractive provided that the thermal design and operating parameters of the reactor are carefully matched to the process.