Israeli Helios, German OHB working together to enable space colonies
The Israeli Helios company has agreed to provide oxygen-producing technology for the German OHB company's lunar missions.
Illustration of Helios's oxygen and metal producing technology (photo credit: HELIOS)
Israel's Helios
has signed a memorandum of understanding for its oxygen and metal
producing technologies to be included in three lunar missions by
Germany's OHB SE space technology company, the firms announced this
week.
Helios,
backed by the Israel Space Agency (ISA), the Energy Ministry, and the
Israel Innovation Authority, works to enable sustainable human life on
Earth and beyond. The company is developing a reactor to produce oxygen
from the lunar surface and reactors to produce iron and silicon on Earth
with zero carbon emissions.
Its
technology will fly on three Lunar Surface Access Service (LSAS)
missions run by OHB SE, which aims to provide European and international
customers with timely access to the moon.
"In the development of the lunar economic market, we intend to fill
a gap with LSAS as the first European lunar shuttle service, since
according to current plans, an institutional European moon lander will
be available in 2029 at the earliest," said Dr. Lutz Bertling, member of
the OHB SE Management Board. "When payloads for lunar missions are
tendered in the near future, we want to be ready with our LSAS lunar
landing service."
OHB
is preparing the LSAS with its partner Israel Aerospace Industries
(IAI), with a goal of bringing scientific and commercial payloads to the
lunar surface by 2025. Over 100 interested parties have already
contacted OHB.
Dr. Timo Stuffler, OHB (left) , and Helios' CEO Jonathan Geifman signing a Memorandum of Understanding (credit: OHB)
OHB's spacecraft is being built based on the experience that IAI gained in the Beresheet moon lander project.
Helios'
CEO Jonathan Geifman explained that "production of oxygen on the lunar
surface is key to enabling 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."
“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," added Geifman.
Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Uri Oron, Director-General of the ISA, explained
that establishing a permanent lunar base will require international
cooperation and partnerships between space agencies and private
companies.
“Helios,
an Israeli startup supported by the Israel Space Agency, is an example
of a company that will become a key player in the efforts to return to
the moon," said Oron. "The Israel 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."
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