A team of Polish scientists will test a space excavator designed to extract lunar regolith under conditions simulating the Moon’s gravity. The tests will be conducted during a parabolic flight campaign in November 2025.
The project involves researchers and engineers from the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN), the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, and the company Spacive.
They will take part in the 88th parabolic flight campaign of the European Space Agency (ESA), conducted in cooperation with the French company Novespace. The campaign, carried out under unique conditions that simulate reduced gravity, will enable a series of experiments replicating lunar gravity. Researchers will test the interactions between mechanical devices and lunar regolith.
The campaign is scheduled for November this year, with flights taking place over the Atlantic Ocean. The main goal of the mission is to verify technologies for extracting lunar regolith—a key resource for space missions based on the concept of In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU).
Lunar regolith is the Moon’s loose, dusty surface layer and could play a crucial role in supporting future human missions to the Moon. This fine-grained material is composed primarily of oxygen, silicon, iron, calcium, titanium, aluminum, and magnesium—elements that could potentially be used to produce water, oxygen, building materials, and even fuel on-site.
Regolith extraction technologies are also being developed by Polish research institutions. One notable initiative is the DIGGER project, carried out by the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN) in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA).
As Ewelina Zambrzycka-Kościelnicka from CBK PAN explained, within the DIGGER project, scientists developed the Rotary Clamshell Excavator (RCE)—a mechanical regolith sampling device that has reached Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6. This means the device is a functional prototype that has passed environmental tests (including launch vibrations, dust exposure, and temperature variations), but has not yet been tested in actual lunar gravity conditions. That’s why experiments in parabolic flight are essential.
To carry out these tests, researchers designed an experimental setup called PETER (Planetary Excavation Technology vERification system). “The regolith will be placed in transparent containers for testing,” said Dr. Karol Seweryn from the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CBK PAN). “We will examine regolith sample collection, plate shear tests, and angle of repose measurements. Each day, a different type of regolith simulant will be used, and for every parabola, the regolith will be reset to its original geotechnical parameters.”
He added that the setup allows for four main types of experiments: evaluating the device’s performance in reduced gravity conditions; measuring the mechanical properties of regolith (such as angle of repose and failure planes) depending on its density; analyzing the movement of regolith particles recorded by cameras during interactions with the equipment; and comparing the effects of different regolith simulants on cutting mechanics.
The test campaign will generate nearly 100 experiments, with results to be shared with the scientific community. According to Dr. Seweryn, the findings will have direct applications in planning future manned, mining, and construction missions on the Moon and other celestial bodies in the Solar System.
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