Israel and Germany have teamed up on lunar exploration. German space technology group OHB SE has signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Israeli startup Helios to include Helios' technology for producing oxygen on the lunar surface in OHB's first three Lunar Surface Access Service (LSAS) missions to the moon.

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Helios is an Israeli company founded in 2018 and has the backing of the Israeli Space Agency, the Ministry of Energy and the Israeli Innovation Authority.The company's vision is to enable sustainable human life on Earth and beyond. Among its core developments are reactors to produce oxygen on the lunar surface and reactors to produce iron and silicon on Earth with zero carbon emissions.

"Production of oxygen on the lunar surface is key to enable the expansion of humanity beyond Earth and to dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration. Oxygen is going to be the most sought after consumable in space as it makes up over 60% of the mass of any fully loaded space vehicle designated for lunar missions and beyond," explains Helios CEO Jonathan Geifman. "Helios' lunar mission with OHB serves to mature its oxygen production technology under real lunar environment, and is a significant step to realize the upcoming cislunar industry."

"Returning and establishing a permanent base on the Moon requires international cooperation and the creation of partnerships between space agencies and privately-held companies", says Director-General of the Israeli Space Agency Uri Oron. "The Israeli Space Agency welcomes the cooperation between OHB SE, Helios and Israel Aerospace Industries. This cooperation demonstrates the strong, long-lasting relationship between Germany and Israel, and the contribution this partnership can yield to the space industry."

"With this memorandum of understanding, Helios is taking an important step towards being able to test hardware for in-situ resource utilization on the Moon at an early stage," says Dr. Timo Stuffler, head of Business Development at OHB. "In the future, ice on the moon will also be used to build rocket refueling stations and energy stations by splitting it into oxygen and hydrogen."

OHB and IAI are making every effort to bring scientific and commercial payloads to the lunar surface with the LSAS lunar transfer starting in 2025.

"In all, customers' payloads may have a total mass of between 80-110 kilograms (176-242 lbs.), depending on the mission type. We are pleased that more than 100 interested parties from science and industry have already contacted us," says Séverine Jacquet, who fields initial customer contacts for OHB.

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Israeli startup Helios, backed by the Israeli Space Agency, is planning to join Japan-based ispace's second and third missions to the lunar surface to demonstrate its technology for the production of oxygen and metals on the moon itself.

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One of the most sought-after materials needed for cislunar space is oxygen, mainly for the refueling of rockets and spacecraft. Oxygen comprises over 70% of the propellant weight. The ability to produce oxygen on the Moon is key to sustaining human existence off the planet Earth.

According to Jonathan Geifman, Helios's co-founder and CEO, "The technology we are developing is part of the value chain that enables the establishment of permanent bases away from Earth. In order not to have to endlessly transport equipment to the lunar station and causing life outside of Earth to operate under restrictive constraints, we need to look at things through the prism of infrastructure that can produce materials from natural resources."

Japanese Ambassador to Israel Mizushima Koichi, hosted a signing ceremony between the Israeli and Japanese companies to establish the initial agreement. Two memoranda of understanding stipulate that ispace may deliver Helios' technology to the lunar surface onboard ispace's lander by the end of 2023 and mid-2024.

Helios' payloads, called Lunar Extractor 1 and Lunar Extractor 2 aims to demonstrate the process of producing oxygen and metals from lunar soil. Lunar soil contains over 40% oxygen by weight, locked in oxides and minerals. Lunar Extractor 1 is designed to separate oxygen from the soil using electrolysis. This creates a byproduct – metal, which can be cast into a mold, possibly becoming the first artifact ever produced on the Moon.

Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace, said, "Utilizing the resources on the Moon is the natural conclusion and would lead to large economic impact for a cislunar ecosystem and eventually the sustainability of the Earth. ispace, as a pioneer in building the cislunar ecosystem, is honored to provide our lunar transportation service and assist Helios to demonstrate their technology on the Moon. We are very excited by their technology and we believe this effort will stimulate more players to enter this market."

Head of the Israel Space Agency Avi Blasberger said the agency welcomes the cooperation between ispace and Helios and hoped it would lead to further collaboration.

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An Israeli startup is developing technology to extract oxygen from lunar and Martian soil to be used by future space missions.

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Helios, headquartered in Zur Yigal in central Israel, has been awarded funding by both the Israeli Space Agency and the Energy Ministry for a system slated for use in two missions scheduled for the next three years.

For the moon, Helios is designing a reactor into which lunar soil is fed and produces oxygen as well as various types of metal after processing. The process does not require materials shipped from the Earth, so it could serve as an instrumental part of self-sustaining human communities off-planet.

Over 50 lunar missions are planned for the next five years, all of which will require thousands of tons of oxygen, which comprises some 70% of the weight of rockets that propel shuttles into space.

Helios co-founder and CEO Jonathan Geifman explained that the startup's technology is part of a chain that will allow humanity to establish permanent communities on the moon or even other plaets.

"So that we don't have to move endless amounts of equipment to the space station, causing life off planet Earth to get bottlenecked, we need to think in terms of infrastructure when it comes to producing raw materials from natural resources," Geifman said.

Director General of the Israeli Space Agency Avi Blasberger said, "Helios' revolutionary technology to produce oxygen from lunar soil with the need for raw materials from Earth will reduce the costs of the launch, expand the amount of cargo, and in future also allow long-term human presence in deep space.

"We foresee that the return to the moon entailing NASA's Artemis program will create major business opportunities for the space industry in general and the Israeli space industry in particular. Helios, which got its start as part of an entrepreneurial workshop during Israel Space Week, is an excellent example of a groundbreaking Israeli startup that will lead and take a central part in this developing trend," Blasberger said.

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