Regolith The Moon Mission Within Reach

It is the year 2040: Operations to secure a long-term human presence on the lunar surface using lunar resources have begun—What sounds like the beginning of a science fiction novel was the start of the mission for the robotics team from the Karlsruhe FZI Research Center for Information Technology at this year's "Space Resources" competition of the European Space Agency (ESA).

After its victory in the first "ESA ESRIC Space Resources Challenge" three years ago, the FZI once again competed in this competition against other international teams. This time, the task was to collect lunar regolith—a loose rocky material from the lunar surface—and prepare it for oxygen extraction through particle size separation. The goal was to produce a material optimally suited for molten salt electrolysis. In the competition, enough regolith needed to be prepared to generate sufficient oxygen using this method for eight astronauts during a 30-day lunar mission.

Robots extract artificial moon rock under special conditions

Not only did the ESA's task for the eight finalists' teams seem futuristic: The field test for the autonomous robots took place in mid-October at the "LUNA" lunar center at the DLR site in Cologne. In the newly opened facility, future astronauts are being prepared for lunar missions. The facility, covering an area of over 700 m² (approx. 7530 sq ft), simulates the challenging conditions on the Moon with realistic lighting conditions and the specific properties of regolith. The lunar surface was replicated in the hall with approximately 900 tons of regolith simulant. This consists of fine basalt dust, whose grain size and composition were specifically developed for the facility. In its properties, the dust is very similar to the original lunar regolith.

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“The dust was indeed a major challenge for the robots and our technology,” says Dr.-Ing. Georg Heppner, FZI department head and leader of the FZI Challenge Team DUST (Distributed Unit for Sorting and Transport). “Regolith is very fine and causes mechanisms to clog and wear out quickly. Therefore, we had to continuously monitor the material transport and the functionality of all rover components from the control room and intervene accordingly in case of errors.”

The extraction of lunar rock is comparable to terrestrial mining, where soil, rock, or other materials are removed to access valuable resources. For the specific lunar conditions, suitable methods must be developed to efficiently loosen, transport, and prepare the material.

Processing encompasses all methods that increase the economic or practical value of a raw material by removing unwanted components. On Earth, this occurs through sorting, crushing, or cleaning ores, for example. In the context of so-called In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) in space, processing means that the extracted lunar regolith is further processed directly on-site—for instance, by separating it by particle size or enriching specific minerals. This creates a material that is better suited for the next processing step, such as extracting oxygen, water, or building materials for future lunar missions.

Working in space research is very challenging because the conditions in space are truly unique, and the conditions on Earth in the lab are so different. Tests like the deployment in the LUNA lunar center make it tangible and incredibly motivating as a sense of immediacy is created. For a permanent human presence on other celestial bodies, many different disciplines must work together, and it is great to be able to contribute to that.

Niklas Spielbauer, Research Assistant at FZI and DUST Team Leader

FZI robotics team participates with a tailored robot solution

The FZI team deployed the Modular DUST Rover—a platform with four wheels and modular attachments specifically designed for the challenge. The team benefited from the fact that, in addition to the fully equipped FZI Living Lab Service Robotics, the FZI also has its own metal workshop for robotic prototypes.

A prerequisite for the challenge was a robot capable of processing at least 15 kg of lunar rock, weighing a maximum of 60 kg, and generating as little dust as possible during operation. The unique feature of the FZI solution was that all necessary capabilities were integrated directly into the robot: excavation and screening were carried out without detours. In contrast, other teams had to drive their robot to a separate station to screen the rock. The FZI team's expertise also came from a single source: rapid prototyping, the robot itself, and in-house modular software. Especially for teleoperation, the FZI strongly relies on the open-source framework Robot Operating System, or ROS. The FZI is highly committed to open-source software (OSS) through various publications and is a member of the ROS-Industrial Consortium Europe.

At the FZI, we have been researching robotics for around 40 years, focusing primarily on intelligent mobile systems and walking robots. Recently, our focus has been on autonomy functions for space exploration or for safety-critical and hostile environments. The developments are tested in real-world analog scenarios—such as in the desert, a nuclear power plant, or, as in this challenge, in a lunar test environment.

Dr.-Ing. Georg Heppner

Before the final round, the team was provided with aerial images and 3D maps of the test area. Using these, the most promising extraction zones were identified, and safe routes between the starting area and target points were planned. During the challenge, on-board cameras were used for orientation to precisely follow the planned routes.

Chance for a real moon mission

All eight teams participated in the field test from October 13 to 17, 2025, and subsequently submitted their project development concepts to the ESA by the end of the month. Then it was time to wait for the winner announcement. Who will win the development contract worth 500,000 euros for a feasibility study with ESA? And which team demonstrated the strongest performance in the beneficiation category? This is the process by which the economic value of an ore is improved by removing gangue minerals, resulting in a higher-grade product. The winning team will be rewarded with up to 250,000 euros (approx. 300,000 USD) by the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) and ESRIC.

"The field test was, of course, incredibly exciting for us. We finished the preparations for the software, hardware, and mechanics just in time, and then our rover was 'ready to go.' And then, of course, you want to deliver what we had planned," recalls Niklas Spielbauer. "We also didn’t know how it went for the other competitors. On-site, we were hardly allowed to exchange ideas with each other, and every finalist's approach had its pros and cons."

Creating a flexible foundation for future space projects

Yesterday, the long-awaited results were announced: This time, the FZI team did not manage to win the competition. “We congratulate Team Bremen on their outstanding performance! We take the experience from the challenge into our applied research and look forward to hopefully competing against such top teams again in the next challenge! A big thank you to the entire FZI DUST team and also to the other finalists! We have all demonstrated how strong European robotics research is,” said Dr.-Ing. Georg Heppner.

What’s next? Even without a subsequent project, the development of the rover is currently being further advanced. On the one hand, to learn from the challenges encountered and analyze them scientifically, and on the other hand, to create a flexible foundation for future space projects and further develop them.