The Aqualunar Challenge is part of a Pounds 1.2m prize funded by the UK Space Agency's International Bilateral Fund and managed by Challenge Works. In collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Impact Canada, the challenge offers UK-led teams Pounds 30,000 each to advance their technologies, with the final winner and runners-up to be announced in Spring 2025.

It is estimated that around the lunar south pole, 5.6% of the soil contains water ice. For a sustainable human presence on the Moon, astronauts will require a steady supply of water for drinking, agriculture, oxygen production, and hydrogen fuel. Successful extraction and purification of lunar ice are critical to the viability of NASA's Artemis mission, which aims to establish a lunar base by the end of the decade.

Paul Bate, CEO of the UK Space Agency, commented: "The ambition to build a sustainable human presence on the Moon through the NASA-led Artemis Missions will only succeed if we have ways of generating a reliable supply of clean water. The Aqualunar Challenge showcases a range of innovative ideas from UK teams and individuals to tackle this challenge, while strengthening ties with our Canadian partners. Space exploration pushes our knowledge to its limit and spurs innovation, resulting in new products and services that can also benefit citizens on Earth. Congratulations to all the finalists who will now go on to develop their ideas further."

Meganne Christian, UK Space Agency reserve astronaut and chair of the Aqualunar Challenge judging panel, added: "To sustain a permanent crewed base on the Moon over years and decades, astronauts will need a reliable water supply, which we can also use to produce oxygen and hydrogen. It is expensive and risky to send a continuous convoy of rockets from Earth to the Moon to keep a base supplied, which is why we need to develop the technologies that can purify the water that is already on the Moon."

"The lunar environment is unforgiving. With no atmosphere and parts of the surface having never seen sunlight, the ice in the soil is as hard as steel and heavily contaminated with lunar dust - known as regolith - which forms a grinding paste when wet. It is no small feat to melt the ice, separate it from the dust and other elements and make it usable. The technologies being developed must have minimal maintenance - they cannot rely on components being sent up from Earth and it won't be possible for astronauts to regularly change filters and tighten nuts and bolts."

Finalist technologies include:

- Titania-Diamond Annular Reactor (TiDAR) by Nascent Semiconductor Ltd, County Durham. This system uses UV light from LEDs to activate a titania catalyst and diamond electrodes, breaking down harmful components in the lunar soil to produce safe drinking water and materials like rocket fuel.

- SonoChem System by Naicker Scientific Ltd, Gloucestershire. This technology uses powerful sound waves to form micro bubbles in contaminated water, which generate free radicals to effectively remove contaminants.

- Ganymede's Chalice by British Interplanetary Society, London. This solar concentrator uses the Sun's rays to boil ice, storing and processing the components to produce pure water.

These technologies, developed for space, have potential applications on Earth, especially in water-stressed regions. Holly Jamieson, executive director of Challenge Works, said: "Water purifying technologies that work in the harsh environment of space can be put to great use on Earth - autonomous technology that can operate at extreme temperatures without maintenance could be deployed in remote locations around the world. They not only have the potential to aid water extraction, but also to purify dirty water safely and efficiently. Prizes are at their best when they support multiple approaches to the same problem to progress. It's exciting that the approaches being taken by the Aqualunar finalists are all so different - it means we can advance the technologies for a range of use cases on Earth as well as on the Moon."

Research by the Aqualunar Challenge shows that 62% of people believe space exploration technologies should have Earth applications, with 56% believing that space technology can help us understand and protect our planet. Additionally, 86% of respondents want lunar water purification technologies adapted for Earth use.

The UK Space Agency and Challenge Works are collaborating with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Impact Canada to deliver the Aqualunar Challenge. The CSA will announce its cohort of teams later today.

For more details on the Aqualunar Challenge and the ten finalists, visit aqualunarchallenge.org.uk. The finalists will be showcased at the Farnborough Air Show on Friday, July 26, in the Space Zone Theatre at 1300.

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Aqualunar Challenge
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