In Situ Resource Utilization

In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) refers to the production of useful materials from the resources available at a given location. (The phrase is from the Latin in situ, meaning "at the site", or "in place".)

One form of ISRU is In-Situ Propellant Production, (ISPP), or manufacture of rocket fuel from local resources; the term ISPP is no longer currently much used, in favor of the more generic terminology ISRU, which incorporates use of in-situ resources for uses other than propellant.

ISRU can be categorized into production of materials useful at the current location, primarily:

• life support
• propellant
• radiation shielding
• construction and structural materials
• raw materials for other production useful for habitat expansion

materials produced for use elsewhere in space:

• propellant for exploration and colonization
• building materials for habitats and spacecraft

and materials produced as commodities for possible sale back to Earth:

• high-value materials, such as Platinum Group Metals
• bulk materials, such as nickel and iron refined from asteroidal resources
• materials for manufacture of solar power satellites to export energy to Earth

Links

• List of ISRU
• LUNOX
• Value of commodities

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