Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Moon as observed from the International Space Station.
Image credit: NASA

NASA has selected 11 U.S. companies to develop technologies that could support long-term exploration on the Moon and in space.

Astrobotic’s LunaGrid-Lite will demonstrate the first transmission of high voltage power across the lunar surface and leading to a LunaGrid power service.
Image credit: Astrobotic

Six of the selected companies are small businesses. The awarded companies, their projects, and the approximate value of NASA’s contribution are:

Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh, $34.6 million – LunaGrid-Lite: Demonstration of Tethered, Scalable Lunar Power Transmission

Big Metal Additive of Denver, $5.4 million – Improving Cost and Availability of Space Habitat Structures with Additive Manufacturing

Blue Origin of Kent, Washington, $34.7 million – In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)-Based Power on the Moon

Freedom Photonics of Santa Barbara, California, $1.6 million – Highly Efficient Watt-Class Direct Diode Lidar for Remote Sensing

Blue Origin manufactured this working solar cell prototype from lunar regolith simulants.
Image credit: Blue Origin

Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colorado, $9.1 million – Joining Demonstrations In-Space

Redwire of Jacksonville, Florida, $12.9 million – Infrastructure Manufacturing with Lunar Regolith – Mason

Protoinnovations of Pittsburgh, $6.2 million – The Mobility Coordinator: An Onboard COTS (Commercial-Off-the-Shelf) Software Architecture for Sustainable, Safe, Efficient, and Effective Lunar Surface Mobility Operations

Psionic of Hampton, Virginia, $3.2 million – Validating No-Light Lunar Landing Technology that Reduces Risk, SWaP (Size, Weight, and Power), and Cost

United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, $25 million – ULA Vulcan Engine Reuse Scale Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator Technology Demonstration

Varda Space Industries of El Segundo, California, $1.9 million – Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator Tech Transfer and Commercial Production

Zeno Power Systems of Washington, $15 million – A Universal Americium-241 Radioisotope Power Supply for Artemis

Radioisotope Power System by the Zeno Power-led team, including Intuitive Machines, may enable lunar assets to survive and operate during the lunar night and in permanently shadowed regions of the Moon.
Image credit: Zeno Power Systems

Once demonstrated and implemented on the Moon, Blue Origin’s Blue Alchemist idea, the company suggests, could put unlimited solar power wherever needed.
Image credit: Blue Origin

Made on the Moon

The award win by Blue Origin is In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU)-Based Power on the Moon.

Blue Origin has proposed “Blue Alchemist” as an end-to-end, scalable, autonomous, and commercial solution that produces solar cells from lunar regolith, which is the dust and crushed rock abundant on the Moon’s surface.

“Based on a process called molten regolith electrolysis, the breakthrough would bootstrap unlimited electricity and power transmission cables anywhere on the surface of the Moon. This process also produces oxygen as a useful byproduct for propulsion and life support,” according to a Blue Origin statement.