Publication
Beneficiation of REgolith and Mobile ExcavatioN (Team BREMEN)
Zhongqian Zhao; Mehmed Yüksel; Kunal Kulkarni; Raúl Domínguez; Svenja Falker; Tim Gumbold; Andreas Bresser; Amrita Suresh; Paul Zabel; Mateo Rejón; Siebo Reershemius; Manuel Meder
In: ASTRA 2025 Proceedings. ESA/Estec Symposium on Advanced Space Technologies in Robotics and Automation (ASTRA-2025), 18th Symposium on Advanced Space Technologies in Robotics and Automation, located at ASTRA 2025, October 7-9, Scheltema, Leiden, Netherlands, ESA, 2025.
Abstract
Space exploration is advancing rapidly, and further steps such as the establishment of habitats on other planets
and space missions from the Moon to Mars are expected. Limited resources are among the greatest challenges
that must be overcome to enable extraterrestrial life. To promote scientific approaches in this direction, ESA
has organized the second Space Resources Challenge. The challenge scenario is set for a future human mission
to the lunar surface that would require oxygen for life support and other systems. The quantity is scaled down to
a feasible field test scenario where a specific regolith size distribution is to be produced to support in-situ oxygen
production activities. The teams are therefore required to excavate 15 kg of regolith and beneficiate it into
different fractions of the desired particle size distributions. The primary feedstock expected is the fraction with
a particle size range of 100 – 500 μm. Eight teams are participating in the challenge which involves the demonstration
of the technology in a field test within the constraints of total system mass, energy consumption and
operation time. Team Beneficiation of REgolith and Mobile ExcavatioN (BREMEN) is one of the participating
teams with researchers from DFKI, DLR e.V, and University of Bremen. The proposed solution consists of two
independent systems: a mobile excavation system and a stationary beneficiation system. The mobile excavation
system is comprised of customized excavation and delivery mechanisms to collect and transfer the regolith to
the stationary beneficiation system that shall process it into the desired particle fractions. The field test for
validating the technologies shall take place at the lunar analog facility LUNA in Cologne, Germany. This paper
presents the system architecture and subsystem designs for Team BREMEN’s solution along with preliminary
experimental validation for the selected designs and the next steps for continuing research to support the ESA
Space Resources Strategy.
