In Situ Resource Utilization
Revision as of 15:39, 10 January 2007 by Geoffrey.landis (talk | contribs)
In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) refers to the production of useful materials from the resources available at a given location.
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
- 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
- platinum group metals
- nickel and iron
- materials for manufacture of solar power satellites to export energy to Earth
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