Systems and methods for in-situ regolith and metal fuel reactions for additive manufacturing

Abstract

Provided are system and methods for additive manufacturing, especially using regolith. A system comprises a vacuum chamber configured to contain a material, wherein the material includes a metal fuel and an oxidizer, and an ignition source configured to ignite the material to combustion. The metal fuel includes at least one of magnesium and aluminum. The oxidizer is at least one of lunar regolith, Martian regolith, or a regolith simulant. The systems and methods provide a mechanism for sustainable production of fuels from regolith materials, with limited or not resource requirements from Earth, resulting in more sustainable space exploration.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.