Imagine a car that makes its own fuel from water and sunlight while driving. This technology does that for spacecraft by splitting water into gases to create thrust. It also figures out how to mine ice from the Moon to refill tanks without needing to bring everything from Earth.
Space missions are limited by the amount of fuel they can carry from Earth and the danger of using toxic propellants. Current systems lack the ability to refuel in orbit or harvest resources from space.
Laboratory prototypes of a water electrolyser, hot-gas thrusters, a docking adapter, and a thermal-vacuum demonstrator for mining icy regolith.
If you are a satellite fleet operator dealing with short mission lifespans due to fuel depletion — this project developed a water-based propulsion and docking system that allows for propellant refilling. This extends the operational life of assets in orbit.
If you are an in-orbit servicing provider dealing with the high cost and toxicity of hydrazine fuel — this project developed a solar-electric water electrolysis system that uses non-toxic water as propellant. This reduces launch risks and operational costs.
If you are a lunar mining company dealing with the extreme cost of transporting fuel from Earth — this project developed an end-to-end chain to extract water from icy regolith and convert it to thrust. This enables self-sustaining operations on the Moon.
Based on available project data, the system uses water, which is described as a cost-effective, non-toxic, and easily storable propellant compared to expensive noble gases or toxic chemicals.
Based on available project data, the project is currently in the laboratory demonstration phase, having built prototypes of electrolysers and thrusters, but it is not yet at industrial scale.
Based on available project data, there is no specific information regarding licensing terms, though the project is coordinated by Technische Universität München with a consortium of 5 partners.
The project period runs from 2024-09-01 to 2027-08-31, suggesting that full validation of the technology will be completed by late 2027.
The project includes the development of autonomous proximity and docking adapters specifically designed to enable propellant refilling for spacecraft.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward commercial application with a 60% industry ratio, comprising 3 SMEs and 2 universities. This balance suggests a strong push to move the research from the lab to the market, with the Technical University of Munich providing the academic lead and SMEs likely handling the specialized hardware development.
Contact the Technical University of Munich (TUM) regarding the S4I2T project.
Contact SciTransfer to connect with the S4I2T consortium for early adoption of water-propulsion tech.
