This startup believes it can produce rocket fuel from water. Stop laughing

This was it Hand wave, this assumption, and this Yada yada At the heart of our long-term space programmes. If we could bring astronauts back to… moonWe’ll find ice there. And if we find that ice in sufficient quantities, we’ll break it down into hydrogen and oxygen, and Yada yadaWe will use this fuel to fly deeper into the solar system, perhaps even to Mars. And if we get to MarsWe will find more ice on the red planet. We’ll extract that, combine it with the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and Yada yadaWe’ll use that to bring the astronauts back.

It’s an idea that’s been around since the Apollo era and has been promoted in recent years by the likes of a former NASA administrator Bill Nelson And SpaceX Elon Musk. But here’s the thing: No one has ever succeeded in turning water into rocket fuel, not even for a spaceship of any size. A startup called General Galactic, led by two engineers in their 20s, aims to be the first.

This fall, General Galactic plans to launch a 1,100-pound satellite, using water as its sole propellant into orbit. If it works, he can’t just start solving the problem Yada yada The problem is, it could make US satellites more maneuverable at a time when the potential for conflict in space is increasing.

“Everyone wants to build a base on the Moon or a base on Mars or something. Who’s going to pay for it? How does it actually work?” asks Hallen Matteson, CEO of General Galactic. “Our vision is to build a gas station on Mars, but also eventually build a refueling network” between them, he adds.

This is it, very At least a long-term plan. For starters, Matteson, ex SpaceX His engineer and technology director, Luke Neise, a Varda Space veteran, has purchased a launch space for a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff is scheduled for October or later in the fall.

There are, to broadly simplify, two main types of engines you can use in your spacecraft. You can take a fuel like liquid methane, maybe combine it with an oxidizer, and burn it. This is called chemical propulsion, and every big rocket you’ve ever seen uses some variation of this method, because it provides a lot of thrust, even if it’s not very efficient.

Or you can take a gas like xenon, electrocute it, and shoot it out of the spacecraft, either as an ionized gas or a plasma. This is called electric propulsion – again, I’m oversimplifying. “It’s very low thrust,” Matteson says. “People like to jokingly call it a space burp.” “But it lasts forever. The efficiency is crazy.” Adequate burping over time can be very effective. Electric propulsion is used to keep satellites in orbit and to power space probes like them dawnSent by NASA to explore the asteroid belt.

Water is not ideal for electrical or chemical propulsion. But it might be good enough for both of them. Unlike liquid methane, for example, you don’t have to worry about water accidentally blowing up your spacecraft or… Keep it cold at -260°F Or make it boil when the satellite faces the sun.

General Galactic plans to demonstrate both methods during the Trinity mission. For chemical propulsion, electrolysis will be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, then burn the hydrogen, with oxygen as the oxidant. For an electric propulsion system, this is called ““Hall payer”– It will split the water, then apply enough electrical energy to turn the oxygen into plasma. From there, you can use a magnetic field to shape and release the plasma.