Study of concepts for manufacturing hardware at a pace driven by the available resources in-situ; materials and energy sources

Within this study, it is proposed to perform a system study for a concept for manufacturing hardware where time is not the driving parameter and initial available resources are very limited. In the frame of exploration missions, complex trade-off will have to be made to find out the best balance between the ISRU (In Situ Resources Utilisation) and the resources brought from Earth. The first ones will have to be further processed to become useful while the cost of the later will be tremendous. The idea of this study is to assess the concept of using a "low cost" preparatory mission for a core exploration mission. This preparatory mission will ensure that support hardware is available on the spot for the main exploration mission. The concept will either develop means to first increase the available resources (e.g. raw material, energy, gas) and then build specific hardware needed by the core exploration mission or directly produce at low pace the specific hardware.On Earth, if available resources are not enough, alternative sources will be used as there is the necessity of satisfying on the spot a well identified need. In the frame of exploration missions an optimised "mass" concept will have to be developed. Together with this mass issue, a search for minimising the volume of items sent from Earth will be done. In this new concept, most of the work has to be done, by inventing a model where the available resources are minimal and they may not be available 24/7.The proposed activity aims at making a first attempt for looking at sustainability perspective in the context of space hardware development. A particular focus will be put on two scenario i) preparing infrastructure to enhance the capabilities of a robotic exploration mission and ii) exploration missions for establishing a manned base on celestial bodies. Concepts will be developed aiming at preparing the main mission minimising the needed resources at the cost of a time extension to manufacture the required hardware (*). The activity will put a specific focus on the lunar and Martian exploration.(*) In the case of a robotic mission, one could e.g. increase the data transfer capability by building an antenna or increase the autonomy of a rover by adding possibilities to recharge more efficiently batteries. Without such hardware, mission could be still having a positive outcome. In the case of manned mission, the hardware to be produced would enable the manned mission. It could be e.g. producing oxygen gas and metal from the regolith; or shields against cosmic radiation allowing an extensive stay of the astronauts; without such resources, mission would not have a positive outcome.