UK Strategies for the ISRU Grand Challenge

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End Date
The theme of in situ resource utilisation (ISRU) is a grand challenge of the European Space Agency and its partners as future robotic and crewed exploration of the Moon, asteroids and Mars requires key technology innovation to effectively utilise local resources for habitation and fuel generation. The workshop will discuss future UK ISRU industry strategies.
Meeting Aim: To bring together members of industry and academia to gain an understanding of ISRU research in the UK and identify long-term collaborative opportunities for UK sector growth.
Format: The workshop will consist of presentations and moderated group discussions covering infrastructure and enabling technology requirements and knowledge gaps for the end to end ISRU flow of activities including prospecting, extraction, processing, utilisation, infrastructure and regulation of planetary resources. Topics: We hereby solicit talks on the following themes:
- resource needs for exploration applications on different planetary bodies (e.g., power, habitat support, propulsion, economically valuable reserves)
- instrumentation for identification of resource budgets
- resources - innovative industrial processes and opportunities for R&D
o oxygen, water, metals extraction
o extraction, processing and storage technologies
- supporting infrastructure technologies (e.g., comms, power, propulsion, platforms, landing technologies, sensors)
- commercialisation - maximising system throughput and automation
- regulation
Please register for the the meeting by via https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-strategies-for-the-isru-grand-challenge-tickets-38834693614?ref=estw , and if you wish to give a presentation please also email your proposed talk title and a paragraph summary to Matt.Cosby@Goonhilly.org and Katherine.Joy@manchester.ac.uk by Friday 24th November.The meeting format will consist of talks and discussion time and the programme will be made publicly available the 1st week of December.
Speakers: Sue Horne (UK Space Agency), more to be announced.
Co-organisers: John Zarnecki (OU / RAS), Matthew Cosby (Goonhilly), Richard Ambrosi (Leicester), Manish Patel (OU), Ian Crawford (Birkbeck), Katherine Joy (Manchester). Supported by the UK Space Agency the Royal Astronomical Society. Further information:
• ESA Grand Challenge website
• ESA ISRU demonstration mission technology call
• Deep Space Gateway call for ideas
• Recent RAS discussion meeting about The use of extraterrestrial resources to help facilitate space science and exploration
Website: www.ras.org.uk