IMPOSSIBLE SENSING AND SOUTH KOREA'S KIGAM ADVANCE LUNAR EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY, SIGN MOU

AND EXECUTE CONTRACT FOR LUNAR GEOSCIENCE INSTRUMENT

The Korean Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources (KIGAM), a leading research institution in South Korea, focuses on the development of lunar resource prospecting technology including surface imaging and mineralogy. KIGAM has conducted lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) since 2019 and is participating in joint activities for lunar exploration with the Inha Institute of Space science and Technology (Inha IST). For further commitment to advance the Lunar Resources Prospecting and Utilization (LRPU) technology, an agreement of collaboration between KIGAM and NASA Langley Research Center was made and is in the process of final approval.

For the ambitious undertaking of building permanent settlements on the Moon, humans must build infrastructures on the Moon using lunar resources since transporting construction materials from Earth is cost prohibitive. Bringing rocket fuel, oxygen and water to support humans is not an economically viable option, either.

To help develop these local resources, Impossible Sensing is developing a first-of-its-kind lunar LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) instrument called L3VIN or Lunar Laser Lab for Volatiles INvestigations. L3VIN is uniquely capable of detecting, identifying and mapping the distribution of elements on the lunar surface.

L3VIN | Courtesy of Impossible Sensing

IMS has teamed up with KIGAM under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on future Space projects and, as of recent, via contract to design, build and deliver a high-fidelity prototype that KIGAM and IMS expect will be ready for lunar mission operations in 2027.

"We are excited to be working with Dr. Kyeong Kim and her team at KIGAM,” Impossible Sensing CEO Kristian Mueller says.

“KIGAM is a first-class research institution and Dr. Kim a world renown leader in lunar geoscience. Collaborating with KIGAM under our MOU provides us with the opportunity for international cooperation for lunar research and development with the ultimate goal of delivering and deploying one of our instruments on the surface of the moon as early as 2027."

IMS will modify an existing design of L3VIN that was most recently deployed and tested by our Canadian partners, Mission Control Space Services, at the European Space Agency's Lunar Polar Challenge in Luxemburg, Europe in the fall of 2022.

L3VIN mounted onto a rover for testing in 2022 | Courtesy of Mission Control Space Services, Inc.