Excavation & Conveying for Lunar Materials - System developments for the two fundamental steps of the ISRU chain

In situ resource utilisation (ISRU) is seen as the basis to enable oxygen production in space exploration, whether as the vital basis, as O2 is essential for basically all life forms, or further, also for rocket refuelling purposes. In this context, specifically concerning the handling of Regolith, the ISRU chain can be seen as consisting of four major steps: excavation, conveying, beneficiation, and processing. Furthermore, on the lunar surface, these steps have to work and interact completely autonomous and are additionally also exposed to extreme environmental influences. To get an ISRU system running at all, the first two and thus initial steps (excavation and conveying) are of crucial importance. Therefore, focus was set on the development of suitable excavation and conveying system concepts for lunar application, specifically from the perspective of mechanical system principles. As illustrated in the figures, two concepts, each evaluated with high potential for the respective purpose, are proposed