Integrated Regolith Excavation and Water Extraction Using Auger-Dryer Systems

AeroFly’s integrated excavation and water extraction system is designed to drastically reduce the cost and logistical burden of sustaining human presence on the Moon by enabling efficient in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). By eliminating the need to launch and transport water from Earth, this technology significantly reduces payload mass and mission costs, making long-term lunar operations more feasible. Building on our team’s proven excavation technology from the NASA Break the Ice Lunar Challenge, this system combines excavation, volatile extraction, and real-time resource collection into a single continuous operation. The auger-based drying unit, optimized through high-fidelity simulations and advanced thermal management, ensures efficient extraction of water and other volatiles from lunar regolith, meeting NASA’s target of 1.5 kg of water per hour under the extreme conditions of permanently shadowed regions (PSRs). By integrating excavation and processing into one system, material handling losses are minimized, energy efficiency is increased, and scalable ISRU capabilities are achieved, making this a mission-critical technology for Artemis, Gateway, and future Mars exploration. Phase I funding will support system validation through subscale prototyping, computational modeling, and regolith simulant testing to refine auger geometry, sublimation dynamics, and filtration efficiency, ensuring the system is optimized for sustained lunar habitation.