posted 02-14-2023 12:51 PM               

Blue Alchemist Technology Powers our Lunar Future

Since 2021, Blue Origin has been making solar cells and transmission wire from regolith simulants.

To make long-term presence on the Moon viable, we need abundant electrical power. We can make power systems on the Moon directly from materials that exist everywhere on the surface, without special substances brought from Earth. We have pioneered the technology and demonstrated all the steps. Our approach, Blue Alchemist, can scale indefinitely, eliminating power as a constraint anywhere on the Moon.

Above: Blue Origin manufactured this working solar cell prototype from lunar regolith simulants.

We start by making regolith simulants that are chemically and mineralogically equivalent to lunar regolith, accounting for representative lunar variability in grain size and bulk chemistry. This ensures our starting material is as realistic as possible, and not just a mixture of lunar-relevant oxides. We have developed and qualified an efficient, scalable, and contactless process for melting and moving molten regolith that is robust to natural variations in regolith properties on the Moon.

Using regolith simulants, our reactor produces iron, silicon, and aluminum through molten regolith electrolysis, in which an electrical current separates those elements from the oxygen to which they are bound. Oxygen for propulsion and life support is a byproduct.

Our process purifies silicon to more than 99.999%. This level of purity is required to make efficient solar cells. While typical silicon purification methods on Earth use large amounts of toxic and explosive chemicals, our process uses just sunlight and the silicon from our reactor.

For protection from the harsh lunar environment, solar cells need cover glass; without it, they would only last for days. Our technique uses only molten regolith electrolysis byproducts to make cover glass that enables lunar lifetimes exceeding a decade.

Because our technology manufactures solar cells with zero carbon emissions, no water, and no toxic ingredients or other chemicals, it has exciting potential to directly benefit the Earth.

Above: Once demonstrated and implemented on the Moon, Blue Alchemist will put unlimited solar power wherever we need it.

We assembled, in one laboratory, the people and facilities needed to transform regolith into solar cells and wires:

• People: Our team encompasses all disciplines needed to solve this unprecedented technical challenge: geologists, geochemists, electrochemists, metallurgists, materials and photovoltaic scientists, fluid dynamicists, mechanical and electrical engineers, roboticists, and instrument, space flight, and systems engineers.

• Facilities: Our laboratory is purpose-equipped for every step of the end-to-end process of transforming regolith into solar cells and aluminum wire, including quality and longevity testing.

Although our vision is technically ambitious, our technology is real now. Blue Origin's goal of producing solar power using only lunar resources is aligned with NASA's highest priority Moon-to-Mars infrastructure development objective.

Learning to live off the land – on the Moon and on Mars – will require extensive collaboration across the ISRU community. We are ready.

posted 09-10-2025 02:58 PM               

Blue Alchemist Hits Major Milestone Toward Permanent and Sustainable Lunar Infrastructure

Blue Origin's breakthrough in-space resource utilization system aims to turn lunar regolith into solar arrays, metals, and breathable and propellant-grade oxygen, enabling sustainable robotic and human Moon missions and future Mars exploration

Blue Origin announced today that its pioneering in-space resource utilization system, Blue Alchemist, has successfully completed its Critical Design Review (CDR), marking a transformative milestone toward humanity's permanent expansion beyond Earth. The breakthrough technology aims to turn the Moon, and eventually Mars, into self-sustaining worlds where robots and humans can go beyond visiting and truly explore, grow, live, and thrive.

Above: Materials such as iron, silicon, glasses, and ceramics are extracted from our Molten Regolith Electrolysis (MRE) reactor.

Blue Origin designs and manufactures heavy-lift rockets, transporters, landers, orbiters, and systems to explore space efficiently and affordably. Blue Alchemist represents a fundamental shift in space exploration; instead of hauling materials from Earth at enormous cost, future missions will build what they need using resources found on the Moon or Mars. The system transforms regolith into solar power systems, breathable oxygen, propellant-grade oxygen for refueling, metals, and construction materials - all critical elements and systems needed for near-term, low-cost, and sustainable bases, growing settlements, and eventual cities.

"Blue Alchemist changes everything about how we approach space. It is the foundation for a sustainable robotic and human presence across the solar system," said Pat Remias, Vice President, Advanced Concepts and Enterprise Engineering. "Each kilogram of oxygen we make on the lunar surface is one less that we have to launch from Earth, making it a giant leap toward permanent settlements as well as critical resources for transportation to the Moon, Mars, and beyond."

Moving Beyond Individual Missions to a New Era of Lunar Permanence

The CDR success confirms Blue Alchemist is ready for its next phase: autonomous demonstration in a simulated lunar environment in 2026.

Once implemented, Blue Alchemist technology will enable:

• Breathable oxygen to support multiple astronauts for short to extended missions on the lunar surface
  
• Low-cost lunar and cislunar exploration refueled with oxygen from regolith, with immediate cost reduction opportunities
  
• Near-term economic transformation of space exploration through sustainable commercial ventures
  
• Permanent robotic and human lunar settlements powered entirely by locally made solar arrays
  
• Mars habitation and exploration using the same resource transformation principles
  
• Deep space exploration with refueling and resupply stations built from lunar regolith, and later asteroid materials

The process produces critical elements for planetary infrastructure, oxygen for breathing, rocket fuel, metals for construction and electronics, glass for windows and solar panel covers, and the solar cells and connecting wire to power it all. We are on track to organically scale our system to make lunar landings up to 60% cheaper and reduce fuel cell/battery masses by up to 70% by refueling those systems with regolith-derived oxygen on the Moon.

Blue Alchemist is being built at Blue Origin's Space Resources Center of Excellence (SRCE), the world's largest dedicated facility for space resources prospecting and utilization. The campus spans 3 acres and houses 60,000 square feet of lab space. Over 65 experts across all disciplines enable us to develop the technologies to find and utilize space resources and infuse those technologies back on Earth to solve modern-day challenges. This end-to-end capability represents more than a technological breakthrough to advance space exploration; the applications of this technology for Earth are equally transformative. Blue Alchemist offers a zero-carbon, environmentally friendly solar cell manufacturing process using feedstocks such as desert sand. It also enables the production of critical minerals, including multiple metals and semiconductors (e.g., silicon), from unconventional, lower-cost ores.

Blue Alchemist is Blue Origin's end-to-end, scalable system for turning lunar regolith into solar cells, power transmission wire, silicon, metals, and oxygen. Using molten regolith electrolysis, the process applies an electrical current to separate oxygen from metals such as iron, aluminum, and silicon, all without water, toxic chemicals, or carbon emissions. The silicon is refined to the high purity needed for efficient, radiation-resistant solar cells, while the oxygen can support life support systems, fuel cell regeneration, or be used as rocket propellant. By building these essential resources directly from local materials, Blue Alchemist removes the need to haul vast supplies from Earth, making sustained lunar presence and Mars exploration possible. Blue Alchemist is supported by a NASA Tipping Point award through the agency's Game Changing Development program, managed by NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate.