Summary of Statement of Objectives (SOO) - Topic 2 NextSTEP-3 Appendix A

This Statement of Objectives defines the mission need, objectives, desired outcomes, and constraints for a system-level In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Lunar Oxygen Production demonstration. NASA seeks commercially viable solutions that integrate oxygen extraction and regolith processing technologies to advance system-level technology maturity from component-level Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5-6 toward integrated system-level TRL 5. The effort is a research and development initiative designed to reduce technical risk for future lunar surface architectures while supporting sustained lunar exploration and potential oxygen production architectures for surface operations and propellant generation. NASA will maintain active engagement with selected offerors through ongoing technical engagement, milestone reviews, and government oversight activities.

The six primary objectives are: (1) demonstrate advancement of Oxygen-from-Regolith ISRU technologies through integrated system-level demonstration approaching TRL 5; (2) identify, integrate, and demonstrate all major components required for a scalable oxygen production system; (3) demonstrate integrated system operation under representative lunar environmental and operational conditions; (4) develop estimates and assessments for scaling toward pilot-scale and full-scale systems (10MT O₂ per year); (5) identify major technical risks and define pathways for reducing those risks; and (6) develop and validate system-level models supporting architecture studies and future ISRU trade studies. In-scope work includes ground-based integrated demonstrations at relevant lunar operating conditions, system integration and testing with end-to-end oxygen production functionality, modeling and data validation, and scalable system concepts. Out-of-scope elements include flight demonstrations, flight-qualified hardware, upstream excavation/sorting systems, and integrated thermal vacuum testing. Required deliverables include integrated system demonstrations, technical reports and briefings, system modeling products and simulation tools, documentation of advancement pathways, government insight activities, and publicly-available publications of results with performance metrics.