By 
August 9th, 2022
Credit: Helios
A new collaboration signals a significant step towards attaining a sustainable cislunar industry.
Two commercial companies — Helios and Eta Space – announced today they are joining forces to solve the problem of off-Earth oxygen production.
Helios, which is backed by the Israel Space Agency, has developed an electrochemical reactor capable of extracting oxygen from lunar regolith. Their proprietary technology and process has proven effective and is being used terrestrially for the extraction of other elements, such as iron.
Credit: Helios
Eta Space, located on the Space Coast of Florida, specializes in production, storage and transfer of cryogenic propellants. Eta Space offers capabilities in cryogenic fluid applications for the Earth, orbit, and the Moon.
Through teamwork, they are integrating their technologies to extract and store liquid oxygen on the Moon. Viewed as a valuable commodity for space, the intent is to sever the supply and transport chain of delivering that product from Earth.
Pilot plant
The key deliverable of the collaborative venture is a detailed design of a 10 metric ton per month pilot plant. The design goal is intended to test the integration of these two systems on a relevant scale for the lunar surface.
Credit: NASA
“Eta Space would play the important role of liquifying and storing the oxygen produced by the Helios reactor in cryogenic tanks,” said William Notardonato, founder and CEO of the company. He sees the joint work as a “key step” to make beyond Earth human presence sustainable.
Indeed, the April release of the U.S. National Academies Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032 noted for human lunar exploration under the auspices of Artemis, “sustainable” is defined to mean that there are “widely accepted reasons to continue human lunar exploration that justify the continued investment, commitment, and risk beyond a few missions.”
There is need to first develop the technologies required to give crews the wherewithal for longer and more sustainable operations on the lunar surface.
Economic value chain
“In order to enable the establishment of a permanent lunar base, Helios’ technology is not enough – a whole set of technologies are required to realize the lunar economic value chain,” said Jonathan Geifman, Helios CEO and co-founder.
“This new collaboration with Eta Space will for the first time connect two purely commercial links in the chain – the production and the storage of oxygen – thus making multiple and long-term missions to the Moon closer to being economically viable.”
Credit: NASA
If humanity is to have a sustainable presence beyond Earth, the reusable methane-fueled rocket systems need liquid oxygen at a ratio of 1:4, so the only cost-effective solution to refueling in orbit is to create and store oxygen on the Moon and on Mars, according to a Helios and Eta Space joint statement.
Partnership program
In late June, Space Florida and the Israel Innovation Authority announced recipients of industrial research and development funding tied to the Space Florida-Israel Innovation Partnership Program. The Helios and Eta Space team proposal was among the winners.
The next call for applications is expected to be released in September 2022.
Florida-based companies interested in more information can visit:
Israel-based companies can visit:
For more information on Helios and Eta Space, go to:
https://www.project-helios.space/
Special thanks to Ana Yoerg of At One Ventures for assistance in preparing this story.
Posted in Space News
