Aqualunar Challenge

The Aqualunar Challenge is a multi-stage competition organized by Impact Canada and the Canadian Space Agency to develop technology capable of purifying lunar ice into potable water. The ice deposits found in the Moon's permanently shadowed craters contain frozen water alongside a complex mixture of volatile compounds - ammonia, methanol, hydrogen sulphide, and other contaminants - trapped alongside abrasive lunar dust. For astronauts to use this resource, it must first be transformed into water pure enough to drink safely.

Over multiple stages of the challenge, our team designed, built, and tested a fully integrated prototype water purification system. The work spanned thermodynamic modelling, custom hardware fabrication, control system development, and extensive laboratory validation. We processed simulant feedstocks through the complete purification cycle, validated contaminant removal with third-party laboratory analysis, and stress-tested critical subsystems to establish performance baselines.

The resulting system is designed to operate completely autonomously in the extreme lunar environment: hard vacuum, temperatures near absolute zero, one-sixth Earth gravity, abrasive regolith particles, and constant radiation exposure. With no possibility of human maintenance over a multi-year mission, every component was selected and every control loop designed with long-term reliability as a primary constraint.

The Challenge

• Transform contaminated lunar ice into potable water
• Remove seven distinct contaminant classes plus lunar regolith
• Operate autonomously for 3+ years without maintenance
• Function in vacuum, cryogenic cold, low gravity, and high radiation

Our Approach

• Multi-stage thermal separation architecture
• Sensor fusion and self-correcting control logic
• Custom mechanical seals for regolith-laden fluids
• Runs on thermal differential from any source (heat pump, waste heat, solar)

Outcomes

• Fully integrated TRL4+ prototype built and operated
• Contaminant removal validated by third-party lab analysis
• Novel components identified for potential commercialization