Revolutionary method: Bremen researchers improve oxygen production in space!

Revolutionary method: Bremen researchers improve oxygen production in space!

On August 31, 2025, scientists in the Bremen drop tower developed a potentially groundbreaking method for efficient oxygen production in space. Loud Mercury This discovery could not only change the way astronauts obtain oxygen on the International Space Station (ISS), but also make future missions to the Moon and Mars more sustainable. The challenge of life support in space travel, particularly reliable oxygen supply, is more than just a technical problem - it is a key requirement for long-duration missions.

Currently, the oxygen production systems on the ISS are based on energy-intensive water electrolysis, which is proving to be a significant hurdle. Gas bubbles stubbornly adhere to the electrodes in weightlessness or float in the liquid, slowing and complicating production. Raumfahrer.net reports that the existing centrifuge systems are heavy, maintenance-intensive and energy-hungry and have so far significantly limited the optimal efficiency of electrolysis.

A novel solution

An international research team, which also includes the ZARM (Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity) at the University of Bremen, has developed a new approach. Led by Álvaro Romero-Calvo from the Georgia Institute of Technology and supported by Katharina Brinkert from the University of Warwick, a technique was researched that allows gas bubbles to be deflected from electrodes using magnetic fields [ University of Bremen ]. This innovation includes a passive system that does not require centrifuges or mechanical components and is therefore light and low-maintenance.

The newly developed method uses commercially available permanent magnets to exploit the interaction between magnetic fields and electric current. This interaction creates a rotational motion in the liquid that helps remove the gas bubbles more efficiently, increasing the efficiency of the electrolytic cells by up to 240 percent. The research is based on four years of joint work between the participating institutions and was published in the journal Nature Chemistry.

Outlook and next steps

The next steps include testing this innovative technology on sounding rockets. The ability to extract oxygen from water in weightlessness could not only revolutionize future space travel, but also lay the foundations for oxygen production using local resources on celestial bodies such as the Moon or Mars. The basics for this are already known, and some processes have even been tested on Mars.

With support from institutions such as the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, this advance could usher in a new twist in space research and allow people to explore the depths of space with significantly fewer resources in the future.