Honda and Astrobotic team up to keep the lights on through the long lunar night

Automotive leader Honda has partnered with lunar startup Astrobotic to investigate the potential of a regenerative fuel cell system for powering lunar missions during the extended nights on the Moon. Announced on Monday, this collaboration aims to assess the integration of Honda's regenerative fuel cell (RFC) technology within Astrobotic's innovative LunaGrid, a scalable power solution utilizing solar arrays. The joint effort will involve conducting illumination studies at potential landing sites near the lunar south pole, focusing on system scalability and the integration of both hardware and software. One of the primary challenges in lunar exploration is enduring the two-week-long lunar night, where temperatures can plummet to a staggering -424 degrees Fahrenheit in certain areas, rendering solar panels ineffective. Honda's RFC addresses this issue by storing solar energy as hydrogen during the lunar day and converting it back into electricity at night, producing only water as a byproduct. This water is then recycled into a high-pressure electrolysis system, generating additional hydrogen and creating what Honda describes as a "closed-loop energy cycle." Astrobotic's Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT) is engineered to maximize sunlight capture by tracking the sun's position, with plans to achieve a capacity of up to 10 kilowatts. The company is also working on an XL version that could produce five times that amount. During the lunar day, VSAT would gather sunlight to fuel the water electrolysis system, while the RFC would convert the stored hydrogen back into electricity at night. The ambitious goal is to establish a continuous and reliable power source on the Moon's surface. Founded in 2007, Astrobotic is based in Pittsburgh and is known for its Peregrine lunar lander, which launched earlier this year but did not fulfill its mission. The company is also advancing power and mobility systems as part of its vision to foster a lunar economy. For Honda, this partnership represents a significant move into the burgeoning space sector. While the automaker has long been committed to fuel cell research and development, this marks its first public venture utilizing that technology in lunar exploration. This collaboration also aligns with Japan's overarching space objectives, as the country is a founding member of the Artemis Accords, which promote international cooperation in lunar exploration. Japanese astronauts frequently participate in research aboard the International Space Station. The lunar south pole is a focal point for NASA's Artemis program due to its near-constant sunlight and the potential discovery of vast water ice reserves. By combining power systems like LunaGrid with Honda's RFC, this partnership could pave the way for more ambitious lunar missions and support a sustainable human presence on the Moon in the future.