ESA’s Prospect payload will drill beneath the Moon’s polar surface, collect samples, and analyse cold-trapped volatiles such as water ice. Its ProSEED drilling and sampling system will operate with the ProSPA miniature laboratory, which will measure volatile origin and abundance and test oxygen extraction from lunar regolith. Prospect is planned to reach the surface aboard Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander on the IM-4 mission through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative under an ESA–NASA agreement. Operations are designed to span approximately one lunar day, or 10 Earth days.[1]
The demonstration addresses a central lunar-habitation constraint: imported oxygen, water, and propellant would impose severe mass, cost, and supply-chain vulnerabilities. Successful regolith oxygen extraction could support breathable atmosphere, water electrolysis, oxidiser production, and reduced dependence on Earth. Volatile measurements will also determine whether polar deposits are sufficiently abundant and accessible for reliable life-support and industrial systems; failure or low yields would expose a major logistical risk for the Ark.[1]
The Ark team should track Prospect’s landing status, drilling depth, sample composition, volatile abundance, extraction method, oxygen yield, energy consumption, throughput, contamination, and performance across lunar-day operations. These data should feed a resource-reserve model and guide redundant designs combining polar volatile mining with regolith-derived oxygen, including quantified storage requirements for periods when extraction equipment is unavailable.[1]