New technologies using materials found in space are constantly emerging, sometimes from smaller companies and sometimes from larger companies. In 2020, one of the biggest companies announced a technology that could have significant implications for future lunar exploration missions planned for the next decade. According to Phys.org’s report, European aviation giant Airbus has developed the Regolith to OXYgen and Metals Conversion (ROXY) system.

ROXY produces not only oxygen, a vital resource for human respiration and rocket fuel, but also metals that can be used to make tools, equipment and even buildings on the Moon. And it does this from regolith found all over the lunar surface.

The process is similar to MOXIE, the experiment the Perseverance rover took with him when it landed on the Red Planet in 2021. But when Airbus announced the successful ROXY test in October 2020, the MOXIE was yet to be proven and almost out of place. His way to Mars.

Nor was MOXIE created to create metal, one of ROXY’s strengths. Instead of being brought from Earth, these metals can be used on the Moon itself, such as making tools, vessels, and other useful items. This aligns nicely with efforts to bring 3D printing technology to the moon, and several other companies are rushing to do the same.

Additionally, the ROXY process is relatively environmentally friendly compared to current metal production methods currently used on Earth. The company’s press release states that ROXY can be used as a zero-emissions process to extract metals that are normally harvested using perfluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas.

But developing this system required more than just one company’s expertise. On the project, Airbus collaborated with several universities and other companies, including a team from Germany’s Fraunhofer Research Institute and Boston University.

More recently, in September 2021, Airbus partnered with the Mexican Space Agency to use ROXY as part of its in-country Mexican Onsite Sourcing program. The project also integrates other technologies from Dereum Labs, a Mexican start-up focused on ISRU. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of news about this collaboration or, in general, about the further development of ROXY over the past three years. Also, even when a successful test was announced in 2021, the story was not widely embraced.

I hope that media indifference does not mean that this potentially groundbreaking technology will be lost in a mashup of technologies designed to accelerate a new space economy. But if so, maybe that’s because there are so many other potential options for turning moon dust into something useful.