Alchemy on the Moon

Could a newly revealed project at Blue Origin bypass SpaceX's lead in launch, by developing in-situ resources?

Last month I was on the Space Show discussing various topics covered in this blog. Towards the end, I mentioned a recently announced project at Blue Origin called Blue Alchemist, which aims to development methods to manufacture goods from lunar materials. Their demonstration was to produce silicon pure enough to be used in solar panels, with the aim of removing energy constraints on the surface of the Moon.

Blue Alchemist uses a method called Molten Regolith Electrolysis. This has already been studied by several groups, including NASA under the GaLORE program. which focused on keeping the heat away from the vessel walls reducing their corrosion. Blue Origin claim in their release to be able to “withstand” the high temperature, corrosive environment and to have a “contactless process for melting and moving molten regolith” which seem to be aimed at solving the same issue, although their exact method is proprietary. The emphasis on this issue is understandable because, as I will get int…