Customer: NASA
Technology: Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells (SOEC)

NASA has become increasingly interested in SOEC technology for experimental applications such as a manned mission to Mars. In order to limit the logistics of materials transport, automated production and storage of Oxygen using resources available on Mars could play a key role to any manned mission to the planet. SOEC is a key technology to achieve this goal. One primary issue with SOEC technology has been degradation in performance on the cathode side of the electrolysis cell. Part of this degradation comes from varying reducing and oxidizing (redox) gas conditions at the cathode that increase the resistance of the electrolysis cell and reduces performance. OxEon was awarded this contract after proposing a unique and promising approach to solve this problem and has completed the first phase of the contract with stellar performance results leading to an extension of this contract into phase two.

OxEon appreciates the confidence shown by NASA in OxEon’s technical personnel and capabilities. The active projects with NASA will further the objectives of both NASA and OxEon, and provide an important step forward in the space capabilities of the United States.

Status: Ongoing