Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1)

The Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) is a lunar technology demonstration mission developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to explore and test the extraction of water ice and volatile compounds from beneath the Moon’s surface. It represents a major step towards establishing the ability to use in-situ resources on the Moon, supporting the long-term goals of NASA’s Artemis programme to create a sustainable human presence beyond Earth.

Background and Purpose

For decades, scientists have believed that the polar regions of the Moon, particularly the areas in permanent shadow, contain deposits of water ice and other frozen volatiles. These resources could be crucial for future space exploration they can provide drinking water, oxygen, and rocket fuel if successfully extracted and processed. Recognising this potential, NASA initiated PRIME-1 as an early mission to demonstrate technologies capable of identifying and analysing such resources directly on the lunar surface.
The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which uses commercial partners to deliver scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the Moon. The Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander was selected to carry the PRIME-1 payload to the lunar south pole. The mission aims to test both drilling and analytical systems that can locate and measure subsurface ice and volatiles in lunar regolith, providing essential data for future robotic and human missions.

Design and Components

PRIME-1 consists of two key instruments designed to work together:

• TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain): A rotary-percussive drill designed to penetrate up to about one metre beneath the lunar surface. It collects samples of regolith at incremental depths, helping to understand how ice and volatile content vary below the surface. The drill also measures the physical properties of the regolith, such as density and resistance, which are critical for understanding lunar soil behaviour.
• MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations): A mass spectrometer modified for lunar conditions that analyses vapours released from the drilled samples. By heating the collected material, MSOLO identifies the types and amounts of gases such as water vapour, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide to determine whether the regolith contains frozen water or other volatile elements.

Together, these instruments form a complete resource-prospecting system capable of drilling, sampling, heating, and analysing lunar materials in real time.

Mission Profile and Execution

The PRIME-1 payload was launched in early 2025 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, mounted on the Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander as part of the IM-2 mission. The lander successfully reached the Moon and touched down near the lunar south pole, a scientifically valuable location due to its permanently shadowed regions that are believed to preserve ancient ice deposits.
After landing, the TRIDENT drill was activated to begin subsurface sampling operations. It successfully performed mechanical tests, penetrated the surface, and transmitted data on regolith properties. Meanwhile, the MSOLO instrument conducted multiple analyses of gases and volatile compounds released from the samples.
Although the lander experienced a tilted landing orientation that limited solar power and communication, the PRIME-1 system functioned for several hours, gathering valuable engineering and scientific data before power was lost.

Technological Objectives

PRIME-1 was designed primarily as a technology demonstration to prove several key capabilities necessary for long-term lunar exploration:

1. Autonomous drilling and sample collection under low-gravity and extreme temperature conditions.
2. Real-time volatile detection and analysis from lunar regolith.
3. Operation of commercial and scientific instruments in the harsh environment of the lunar south pole.
4. Integration of robotic hardware with a commercial lunar lander platform.

These objectives help validate systems that will be critical for future missions focused on resource utilisation, such as NASA’s upcoming VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) mission.

Scientific and Strategic Importance

The significance of PRIME-1 extends beyond its immediate engineering goals. By attempting to access subsurface materials on the Moon, it provides insight into the distribution and composition of lunar volatiles, which are essential for understanding the Moon’s geological history and potential habitability.
The ability to identify and use local resources is central to the concept of in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) a strategy to reduce dependence on Earth-supplied materials. If lunar ice can be mined efficiently, it can be transformed into hydrogen and oxygen propellants, enabling refuelling stations on the Moon and significantly lowering the cost of deep-space missions.
The data from PRIME-1 contribute to:

• Understanding how water and other volatiles are stored in polar regolith.
• Assessing how temperature and depth influence volatile preservation.
• Calibrating instruments for future prospecting missions.
• Developing operational procedures for robotic drilling and analysis in extreme environments.

Engineering Challenges

Operating in the lunar polar region presents unique difficulties. The extreme temperature variations, limited sunlight, rough terrain, and unknown mechanical properties of the soil make drilling and data transmission complex. PRIME-1 was specifically designed to test hardware durability and operational procedures in such conditions.
The mission also had to contend with power constraints. Because of the lander’s position and tilt after landing, the solar panels received less sunlight than expected, reducing available power. Despite this, the mission team managed to complete crucial test sequences, verifying that the equipment could operate and gather useful data in partial power conditions.

Outcomes and Achievements

Even though the mission’s operational duration was shorter than planned, PRIME-1 successfully achieved many of its core goals:

• The TRIDENT drill deployed and demonstrated mechanical operation in lunar soil.
• MSOLO performed multiple analyses, showing that the system could detect and characterise gases released from regolith samples.
• Both instruments transmitted valuable engineering data about temperature, mechanical resistance, and operational performance.

While the mission did not conclusively detect indigenous water ice, the experiment provided first-hand operational experience and validated technology systems that will guide the design of future lunar resource missions.

Future Prospects

The results and lessons from PRIME-1 directly inform the design of more advanced missions. NASA plans to build upon this success with the VIPER rover, which will explore larger areas of the lunar south pole with more advanced drilling and analytical systems. PRIME-1’s performance has helped refine the engineering design, data handling methods, and power management systems required for such missions.
In the long term, technology demonstrated by PRIME-1 is expected to contribute to establishing permanent lunar infrastructure, including habitats, refuelling stations, and research facilities that can operate using resources mined on the Moon.

Broader Impact

PRIME-1 is a milestone in the transition from purely scientific lunar exploration to practical resource utilisation. It demonstrates that robotic systems can perform complex operations on another world using commercially provided platforms. This collaboration between NASA and private industry represents a new era of lunar exploration, one that blends science, engineering, and economics to create a sustainable path for human activity beyond Earth.