3D Printing on the Moon: ESA Project Uses Regolith for Conductive Components

A Denmark-coordinated research project supported by the European Space Agency is investigating how electronic components could be manufactured directly on the Moon in the future. The aim is to reduce future lunar missions’ dependence on resupply deliveries from Earth. At the core of the project is the use of lunar dust, known as regolith, as a raw material for conductive materials and additive manufacturing.

The project is led by the Danish Technological Institute, which contributes its expertise in the development of printable functional materials. A project partner is the British company Metalysis, which specializes in the reduction of regolith. Using an electrochemical process, oxygen is first released from simulated lunar soil, which could potentially be used for breathing air or rocket propellant. What remains is a metal-containing, electrically conductive material.

“The primary innovation of the project is converting the conductive part of lunar soil, also called regolith, into a digitally printable material. This opens completely new opportunities for off-earth manufacturing of electronics for future space missions,” says Christian Dalsgaard, Senior Consultant at Danish Technological Institute.

The technical basis is the molten salt electrolysis process developed by Metalysis, in which regolith is processed at temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.

“Our process was originally designed as an alternative method for titanium production. The technology is applicable to nearly 50 elements in the periodic table, and it is feedstock agnostic – so it can process lunar regolith. Our immediate focus terrestrially is upon high charge tantalum powders and aluminium scandium alloys for the electronics sector,” explains Dr. Ian Mellor, MD and chief scientist at Metalysis.

“Every time you want to send a kilo into space, you need 15 kilos of fuel to move it. So, there is an enormous advantage in being able to utilize local materials available on the Moon, for example to repair critical parts,” explains Christian Dalsgaard.

As part of the project, it is to be demonstrated that the recovered powder can be used, for example, to additively manufacture a conductive wire.

“In this way, we produce conductive inks and powder and test that it can be used to additively manufacture a piece of conductive wire. By doing this, we demonstrate that the conductive powder can e.g. be used to manufacture antennas directly on the Moon,” says Andreas Weje Larsen, 3D printing specialist at Danish Technological Institute.

The project is designed as a feasibility study and is intended to serve as a basis for further initiatives that establish additive manufacturing as an integral part of future space missions.

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