Table 1.
Comparison of proposed in situ resource utilization (ISRU) strategies for rocket propellant production on Mars.
| Strategy | Propellant | Propellant production (ton) | O2 production (ton) | O2 for launch (ton) | Excess O2 (ton) | Payload (ton) | Power usage (kW) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chemical ISRUa | O2 onlyb | CH4 | N/A | 22.98e | 22.98e | 0 | 7.51 | 26.08 |
| H2 onlyc | 6.57 | 3.25 | 33.3 | |||||
| Completed | 6.57 | 2.66 | 63.77 | |||||
| Bio-ISRUf | State-of-the-art | 2,3-BDO | 10 | 63.41g | 19.6 | 43.81 | 20.94 | 17.64 |
| Optimized | 39.95h | 20.35 | 6.53 | 10.80 |
aChemical ISRU numbers from DRA 5.0 (ref. 2).
bCH4 shipped from Earth. O2 produced via solid oxide carbon dioxide electrolysis (SOCE).
cH2 shipped from Earth. CH4 produced via Sabatier reaction. O2 produced via SOCE.
dH2 and O2 produced via water electrolysis. CH4 produced via Sabatier reaction.
eO2 needed according to DRA 5.0, which uses a 3.5:1 O2/methane ratio rather than the 4:1 ratio needed for full combustion (26.27 tons of O2). The actual O2 value is between 3.5 and 4.
fBiotechnology-enabled ISRU process-Biofilm: 2,3-BDO produced on Mars from CO2, H2O, and sunlight.
gNumber already takes into account the 12 tons needed for 2,3-BDO production (fermenter).
hNumber already takes into account the 7.6 tons needed for 2,3-BDO production (fermenter).