The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) has released an important report that identifies technology and capability gaps for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) that shows a path for potential partnerships, spin-ins and spin-offs. The path also shows how Canada can benefit.
The need for an ISRU gap assessment
At the recent 11th Planetary and Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium (PTMSS) and Space Resources Roundtable, which was hosted by Natural Resources (NRCan) department through the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan Secretariat, NASA’s Gerald (Jerry) Sanders presented the findings and recommendations of the recently released In-Situ Resource Utilization Gap Assessment Report (PDF).
In 2019 ISECG decided it need to look at ISRU to answer questions including what were the benefits to humanity, how ISRU fits in with the Global Exploration Roadmap, what are the best technologies, what technology areas were space agencies interested in, and what gaps existed that needed to be filled in the execution of the Global Exploration Roadmap.
To that end Sanders said “we performed a gap analysis, looking at identifying the technologies and capabilities that were critical. And we’re not necessarily being developed at this time. And so how could we close those identified gaps. And in particular, think about what potential partnerships and collaborations could occur between the different agencies.”
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the study but in late April of this year the detailed report was published.
Canadian participation and benefits
Canada’s participation in ISECG is of course led by the Canadian Space Agency. However, other government departments participate as well, and in the case of ISRU, NRCan is a participant.
Canada has been taking the long-term view on space mining which includes ISRU. That long-term view includes effecting policy discussions and possible regulatory updates so that Canada is well positioned to take economic advantage of potential opportunities.
As policy is being driven by economic factors, this brings us to technology development. Canada, as a leader in terrestrial mining, can benefit from innovations in technology that will work on and off-Earth. In fact there are a lot of synergies in meeting today’s challenges of terrestrial mining and mining on other planetary bodies. To that end Canada’s strategy includes the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan articulated by NRCan and of course Canada’s national Space Strategy.
There are several sections in the report that cover Canadian efforts. Here are few excerpts:
In Canada, the Department of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has engaged with the mining industry and Canadians on the future of exploration and mining through the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan (CMMP). This national conversation identified the need to promote collaboration across industries to maximize R&D efforts and develop solutions to the grand challenges of today by looking to other high-tech industries and new frontiers to build Canada’s mines of tomorrow, including the space sector. This has opened the door for greater collaboration between NRCan partners in the mining industry and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), in a concerted effort, leveraging Canada’s Space Strategy. A whole-of-government approach is enabling cross- cutting efforts to better understand common innovation challenges, the potential for investment and economic growth, and opportunities for Canadian industry to develop spin-ins and spin-offs between sectors.
As the Government of Canada is planning for the next phase of human and robotic space exploration, an important aspect of these future missions is the ability to use resources in space, such as regolith mined on the surface of the Moon to provide the necessary resources to astronauts. As part of Canada’s research on this topic, the CSA is undertaking a study to better understand the dynamics of a future space resource utilization market and potential benefits to both the space and terrestrial mining sector. The study will provide a description of the general business case for space resource utilization, including an overview of the short-term and long-term potential market, and how the market is expected to evolve over time (including market size, customers, technologies, ISRU vs. SRU, timeframes, etc.). The study will focus on the business case for resources used as rocket propellant since this is believed to be the most near-term application. This will include an analysis of the international demand and opportunities while focusing on the Canadian context and potential synergies between the space sector and the terrestrial mining sector. The study will also touch on economic impacts that are expected to emerge such as technology spin-offs for the terrestrial mining sector, for example, in-situ resource development, automation, mobile energy, mining without water, and zero carbon footprint. Other key metrics of economic impact will be explored, such as in the areas of innovation, economic growth, and job creation.
Also of interest are some of the spin-in efforts in Canada:
- In Canada, Agnico Eagle is accelerating the use of its automated loading and hauling solutions and is adding an automated production drill for testing at its LaRonde mine in Quebec. The goal is to extend the life and current production levels at North America’s deepest mine–taking operations from 3.1 km to 3.5 km below ground by 2028. Developments in automating major mining operations, especially those in remote and hazardous environments deep underground or in the Arctic, can provide practical lessons to inform the development of ISRU architecture and its operations. As terrestrial activities become more sophisticated through the use of AI and accelerate the adoption of renewable energy technologies, many parallels could be drawn between ISRU and terrestrial mining.
- Teck’s RACE21TM program is an important example of how the mining industry in Canada is approaching technology infrastructure renewal, accelerating the adoption of automation and robotics, and enabling advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence–driving sustainability, efficiency, and competitiveness of the industry. As part of this work, Teck’s Highland Valley Copper (HVC) Operations in British Columbia have piloted an autonomous haul truck (AHS) pilot program. Since its launch in 2018, the AHS pilot at HVC has progressed well, increasing productivity and cost reductions to help enhance the feasibility of extending mine life beyond 2027. To date, the HVC AHS fleet has safely moved over 50 million tonnes of material, which equates to over 217,000 loads, and has advanced plans to increase the AHS fleet to 35 trucks out of the 52-truck fleet operating site-wide in support of its proposed extension of HVC’s mine life to 2040.
And there are some noted spin-offs:
- Safer Mining – In a series of projects based on Sensori-Motor Augmented Reality for Tele-robotics or SMART, space-based technologies such as Man/Machine Interface, ground-penetrating radar, loss-less data, image compression, and space robotics, was integrated to control individual machines, while a supervisory system that can simulate particular events was developed by C-CORE to create more efficient deployment of machines by optimising the use of shared resources such as tunnel intersections and rock-dumping sites.
- Rovers – the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has worked in collaboration with over 40 Canadian companies and universities to build a team of terrestrial rovers that may develop into a version that explores the surface of new worlds. Ontario Drive and Gear developed ruggedized versions of CSA’s Juno rover and a larger 8-wheel robotic platform for applications in defence, mining, and industry. TerraSmart, a Florida-based company, offers robotic ground screw hole installation utilizing the Argo J5 Rover and Provectus Robotics control system to autonomously geo-locate and drill ground screw holes for solar energy fields.
And then there’s the private sector involvement through prize challenges;
Canada is also using a comparable model with the Privy Council Office’s (PCO) Impact Canada Initiative by working with CSA and NASA on the Deep Space Food Challenge. This is an open call to innovators to develop new food production systems for deep-space exploration, such as space missions to the Moon and Mars. Similarly, for terrestrial mining, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) launched the CrushIt! Challenge, which seeks to award a grant to small-scale innovators with the biggest energy breakthrough in crushing and grinding rocks (i.e., comminution). Additional opportunities with provinces and territories are also being explored, such as a pan-Canadian initiative on prize challenges for mining innovation under the Canadian Minerals and Metals Plan. CSA and NRCan are engaged with the Impact and Innovation Unit at PCO to address complex challenges, providing additional opportunities for both departments to combine their efforts towards ISRU innovation, facilitated by a whole-of-government approach and Canada’s Space Strategy.
It’s important to note that it is still very early days with respect to ISRU. Technology development and potential terrestrial benefits will take time, and as many articulated at the symposium, more government investment going forward.
In-Situ Resource Utilization Gap Assessment key findings
- ISRU is a disruptive capability and requires an architecture-level integrated system design approach from the start.
- The most significant impact ISRU has on missions and architectures is the ability to reduce launch mass, thereby reducing the size and/or number of the launch vehicles needed, or use the mass savings to allow other science and exploration hardware to be flown on the same launch vehicle. The next significant impact is the ability to extend the life of assets or reuse assets multiple times.
- The highest impact ISRU products that can be used early in human lunar operations (Table 7) are mission consumables including propellants, fuel cell reactants, life support commodities (such as water, oxygen, and buffer gases) from polar resources (highland regolith and water/volatiles in PSRs).
- While not in the original scope, evaluation of human Mars architecture studies and Table 7 suggest that there is synergy between Moon and Mars ISRU with respect to water and mineral resources of interest, products and usage, and phasing into mission architectures.
- A significant amount of work is underway or planned for ISRU development across all the countries/agencies involved in the study, particularly in the areas of resource assessment, robotics/mobility, and oxygen extraction from regolith (see Appendix B).
- While it appears each country/space agency has access to research and component/subsystem size facilities that can accommodate regolith/dust and lunar vacuum/temperatures, there are a limited number of large system-level facilities that exist or are planned.
- The assessment performed on the type and availability of lunar and Mars simulants for development and flight testing shows that 1. while simulants are available for development and testing, greater quantities and higher fidelity simulants will be needed soon, especially for polar/highland-type regolith, and 2) selection and use proper simulants is critical for minimizing risks in development and flight operations.
- Examination of resource assessment development and activities identified new efforts in refocusing technologies and instrumentation for lunar and Mars operations, and several missions to begin surface and deep assessment of resources are in development, especially to obtain maps of minerals on the lunar surface, surface topography, and terrain features, or to understand the depth profile of water and volatiles.
- While there is significant interest in terrestrial additive manufacturing/construction development, development for space applications has been limited and primarily under Earth-ambient conditions.
- Further research, analysis, and engagement are required to identify synergies between terrestrial mining and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Throughout the mining cycle and ISRU architecture, key areas for investigation include; dependence on remote, autonomous, and robotic operations; position, navigation, and timing systems; and energy technologies (e.g., small modular reactors and hydrogen technology).
- Stakeholder engagement is required between the terrestrial mining and space sectors to drive collaboration to identify and benefit from lessons learned from terrestrial innovations for harsh or remote operations.
- Long-term (months/years) radiation exposure limits for crew currently do not exist to properly evaluate radiation shielding requirements. These are needed to properly evaluate Earth-based and ISRU-based shielding options.
In-Situ Resource Utilization Gap Assessment recommendations
- To help advance ISRU development and use in future human exploration, it is recommended that countries/agencies focus on the defined Strategic Knowledge Gaps (SKGs) that have been identified as high priority for each of the 3 human lunar exploration phases described. Early emphasis should be placed on geotechnical properties and resource prospecting for regolith near and inside permanently shadowed regions.
- Since the access and use of in-situ resources is a major objective for human lunar and Mars exploration and the commercialization of space, locating, characterizing, and mapping potential resources are critical to achieving this objective. While work on resource assessment physical, mineral, and water/volatile measurement instruments are underway, and new orbital and lunar surface missions are in development or planned, a focused and coordinated lunar resource assessment effort is needed
- It is recommended that Science, ISRU, Human Exploration, and Commercial Space coordinate and work closely on SKG III.B Geodetic Grid and Navigation, SKG III.C Surface Trafficability, and SKG III.D Dust and Blast Ejecta to ensure surface activities and data collection are performed efficiently and safely.
- While short-duration lunar surface crewed missions can be completed with acceptable radiation exposure risk, it is recommended that long-term exposure limits be established and radiation shielding options (Earth and ISRU-based) be analysed as soon as possible to mitigate risks for sustained operations by the end of the decade.
- Long-term sustained operations will require a continuous flow of missions to the same location. While distance and placing of landers can be initially used to mitigate damage to already delivered equipment and infrastructure, an approach for sustained landing/ascent (in particular for reusable vehicles and hoppers) is needed. Dedicated plume-surface interaction analysis and mitigation technique development are recommended. It is also recommended that development of capabilities and establishment of landing/ascent pads be incorporated into human lunar architectures early to support sustained operations.
- Experience from Apollo missions indicates that wear, sealing, and thermal issues associated with lunar regolith/dust may be a significant risk to long-term surface operations. Coordination and collaboration on dust properties/fundamentals, and mitigation techniques and lessons learned are highly recommended. This effort should also involve coordination and collaboration on the development, characterization, and use of appropriate lunar regolith simulants and thermal-vacuum facility test capabilities and operations for ground development and flight certification.
- To maximize the use of limited financial resources, it is recommended that the ISECG space agencies leverage the information presented in the report, in particular, the content of the “Technology Capture by WBS and Country/Space Agency portfolio” as a starting basis for further discussions on collaborations and partnerships related to resource assessment and ISRU development/operations.
- Collaboration and public-private partnerships with terrestrial industry, especially mining, resource processing, and robotics/autonomy are recommended to reduce the cost/risk of ISRU development and use. This includes establishment of an international regulatory framework for resource assessment, extraction, and operations, which are necessary to promote private capital investment and commercial space activities.
- The sustainable development aspects of the ISRU activity are recommended to be taken into account from the start of activity planning for the surface exploration of Moon and Mars.
- Aspects of reusing and recycling hardware are recommended to be taken into account from the design and architecture phase of mission planning. This will contribute to minimizing the exploration footprint (e.g. abandoned hardware) and therefore key towards sustainability.
- To accelerate the development of key technologies, close knowledge gaps, and expedite testing/readiness, it has been seen that the use of unconventional models, such as government-sponsored prize challenges can be effective innovation catalysts operationalizing the above recommendations, and ultimately, bringing ISRU to the Moon and onwards to Mars.