The contract was part of the broader framework of two ESA-led mission study teams performing parallel and independent activities to establish the mission concept, considering the ISRU payload (Segment 1), the delivery service (lander, Segment 2) and the communication service (Segment 3).

In this context the scope of the OHB Italia contract activities was related to defining the ISRU Payload.

‘ISRU’ istands for in-situ resource utilisation, and addresses how local resources (on moons, planets or asteroids) can be used to support and sustain future human exploration missions with materials and consumables. For the mission addressed in this study, the resource to be considered is the lunar regolith, which can provide oxygen via its oxygenated minerals. The in-situ production of oxygen (and thus also water) could eventually be used in life support systems for human exploration missions as well as for the production of propellants, avoiding the need to transport these materials from Earth.