A challenge open to all to make the ice water found on the Moon drinkable: this is the objective of the Aqualunar Challenge, the initiative launched by the British and Canadian Space Agency to provide drinking water to astronauts who will work in future on our satellite, up for grabs for the 3 best projects there are 350 thousand euros each.
“The UK is playing an important role in the NASA-led Artemis missions which aim to establish a permanent manned base on the surface of the Moon by the end of the decade,” said Paul Bate, head of the British Space Agency.
“But it will be possible – he added – only if astronauts have reliable access to water, furthermore, it will be much better to obtain water directly on the Moon rather than sending it from Earth”.
It is with this in mind that the Aqualunar Challenge was launched.
which is giving away a total of over 1.5 million euros to the best ideas for purifying lunar water which is found in the form of ice, useful both for astronauts and for growing plants in greenhouses.
The hope is also that innovative technologies for the purification of lunar water may also prove useful for applications on Earth in regions that have a shortage of drinking water.
The competition is open to participants from any country, as long as they are led by a UK-based entity, and the deadline for submitting Aqualunar Challenge proposals is 8 April.
The list of ten finalists will be announced in June 2024 and each will receive 30 thousand pounds in seed funding, while in March 2025 the three first prize winners will be announced who will receive a total funding of 350 thousand euros to develop, receiving technical, design and development support marketing, further their purification systems.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA