According to an official company press release, Helios, led by founder and chief executive Jonathan Geifman, did not set out to make green steel at a lower cost. The company’s original and primary goal is to produce oxygen to sustain recurring missions to the moon by producing it on-site. Their proprietary technology extracts oxygen from lunar regolith, the mixture of powdery dust and broken rock on the surface of the moon.
 
“On the moon we don’t have the luxury of using carbon for energy. You have to be extremely efficient and cannot waste or emit anything,” said Geifman. “The extraterrestrial environment really pushes your R&D to the extreme. You cannot be iterative and must reinvent processes entirely. That is how we came up with this completely novel method of extraction that we soon realized would be beneficial for life on earth as well.”
 
Helios scientists discovered that the technology created for the reactor built to extract oxygen and iron from regolith could also be used to extract 99% pure iron from iron ore, using an entirely novel chemical process. The method requires 50% less energy than what is currently used in the industry, while operating at temperatures so low that a household oven will suffice to initiate the process, the company said.
 
Unlike other green steel technologies, Helios does not require steelmakers to dramatically alter their existing processes. The company is designing a module that can be integrated into direct reduced iron furnaces. This approach will reduce cost and facilitate faster adoption.
 
“Given the frictionless integration approach and superior unit economics compared to conventional iron reduction approaches, we saw potential in Helios to impact steelmaking and decarbonize the industry faster than incumbent technologies,” said Laurie Menoud, partner at One Ventures, one of the investment firms financing the project. “We believe they will accomplish their master goal of enabling sustainable human life in space, but in the meantime, they are enabling sustainable human life here on earth.”
 
Helios will leverage the new funding to demonstrate its technology on a larger scale, comparable to industry norms. Additionally, it will begin commercial agreements to build pilot plants globally, with the capacity to produce multiple tons of iron per day, as well as enhancing integration of its technology into the chain of production.
 
For additional information, visit https://www.project-helios.space.