---
title: "NASA Pumps Funding Into Startup That Says It Can Harvest Oxygen From Lunar Regolith"
description: "A company called Pioneer Astronautics just got millions in funding from NASA to develop a way to extract oxygen from beneath the lunar surface."
date: "2020-07-09"
modified: "2020-07-09"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-funding-startup-harvest-oxygen-lunar-regolith"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "moon"
  - "NASA"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA Pumps Funding Into Startup That Says It Can Harvest Oxygen From Lunar Regolith

![A company called Pioneer Astronautics just got millions in funding from NASA to develop a way to extract oxygen from beneath the lunar surface.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nasa-millions-startup-harvest-oxygen-lunar-regolith.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Dusty Cloud

NASA just awarded substantial funding to Pioneer Astronautics, a company that claims it can gather up lunar regolith and turn it into usable oxygen.

Pioneer Astronautics is one of four companies to win funding through a newly-established [Phase II round](<https://sbir.nasa.gov/content/post-phase-ii-initiatives>) of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research program, *[TechCrunch ](<https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/08/nasa-injects-17m-into-four-small-companies-with-artemis-ambitions/>)*[reports](<https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/08/nasa-injects-17m-into-four-small-companies-with-artemis-ambitions/>). The company will split the total $17 million pot with three other firms ­— though the exact breakdown hasn't been disclosed — because the space agency believes it could prove valuable to the [fledgling Artemis program](<https://futurism.com/nasa-artemis-base-camp-moon>).

## Space Alchemy

The plan — gathering up the Moon's loose rocks and dust and abracadabra-ing some oxygen out of it — is less outlandish than it seems. Lunar regolith can be as [deep as 15 meters](<https://www.universetoday.com/20360/lunar-regolith/>) in some regions of the Moon, and gasses like oxygen can get trapped down there amidst the rubble.

Pioneer Astronautics' plan to extract and make use of that oxygen is still a difficult technological feat — hence the millions of dollars in funding — but there's no actual wizardry involved.

## Gas Bubble

This also isn't Pioneer Astronautics' first rodeo with NASA. The company has won several rounds of funding from the space agency, dating back to [at least 2006](<https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/05may_moonrocks>) for its plan to scoop up Moon air.

At that point, NASA was interested in developing a supply of breathing air for astronauts, but a [similar award in 2019](<http://www.parabolicarc.com/2019/06/23/pioneer-astronautics-2/>) says the program could help provide oxides for batteries and launch vehicles. Either way, it poses a fascinating attempt to make lunar bases self-sustaining.

**READ MORE:** [NASA injects $17M into four small companies with Artemis ambitions](<https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/08/nasa-injects-17m-into-four-small-companies-with-artemis-ambitions/>) \[*TechCrunch*\]

**More on Artemis:** *[Congress Budget Denies NASA Full Funding for Moon Missions](<https://futurism.com/congress-budget-denies-nasa-full-funding-for-moon-missions>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)