Helios Project Ltd: Engineering Sustainable Life on Earth and Beyond
Executive Summary
Helios Project Ltd (commonly referred to as Helios) is a deep-tech company headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel. Founded in 2018, the company originally gained international recognition as a space-technology pioneer with the ambitious goal of extracting oxygen from the lunar surface to support sustainable human life beyond Earth.
Recognizing that the extreme constraints of the lunar environment?where energy is scarce and emissions are not permitted?demanded unprecedented efficiency, Helios successfully pivoted its core innovations to address one of Earth?s most pressing environmental challenges: the decarbonization of the steel industry. Today, Helios provides cutting-edge resource extraction and metal refining technologies that offer a carbon-free, energy-efficient alternative to traditional industrial processes.
Continue…
Core Technologies
1. Molten Regolith Electrolysis (MRE)
Developed for space applications, MRE is the foundational technology that allows Helios to extract oxygen and metals directly from lunar soil (regolith). Since lunar regolith consists of approximately 45% oxygen bound in various oxides (silicon, iron, aluminum, and titanium), the MRE reactor utilizes high temperatures to melt the soil and an electrochemical process to separate the pure oxygen from the metallic byproducts.
2. The Helios Cycle
The Helios Cycle is a proprietary, sodium-based reduction process designed to produce "Green Iron" on Earth. Unlike traditional blast furnaces that use carbon (coke) as a reducing agent releasing massive amounts of CO2, Helios Cycle uses sodium to remove oxygen from iron ore.
- The Two-Step Loop: In the first stage, sodium reduces the iron ore into metallic iron and sodium oxide. In the second stage, the sodium oxide is dissociated to reclaim the sodium, which is then fed back into the closed-loop system, releasing only pure oxygen as a byproduct.
- Low-Temperature Efficiency: Traditional ironmaking requires temperatures between 1,200?C and 2,000?C. The Helios Cycle operates at significantly lower temperatures (between 250?C and 350?C), reducing energy consumption by approximately 30%.
Products and Solutions
Green Steel Infrastructure (HGI)
Helios produces Helios Green Iron (HGI), a high-purity metallic iron that serves as a carbon-neutral feedstock for steelmakers.
* Seamless Integration: HGI is designed to be integrated into existing steel production lines (such as Electric Arc Furnaces) without requiring manufacturers to overhaul their infrastructure.
* Economic Viability: By utilizing low-grade ores and mining waste that are typically discarded, Helios lowers raw material costs while eliminating the "green premium" usually associated with sustainable materials.
Lunar Oxygen Production Plants
As a key participant in the DARPA LunA-10 program and backed by the Israel Space Agency (ISA), Helios develops hardware intended for the lunar surface.
* Oxygen-on-Demand: Systems capable of producing the oxidizer necessary for rocket refueling and life support, dramatically reducing the launch mass required for deep-space missions.
* Metal Co-products: The MRE process yields silicon, aluminum, and iron as byproducts on the Moon, which can be used for local 3D printing of lunar infrastructure and solar panels.
Critical Mineral Extraction
While currently focused on the iron and steel sector (which accounts for ~8% of global $CO_2$ emissions), Helios is expanding its refining technology to other critical elements. The company is developing sustainable extraction methods for:
* Copper
* Lithium
* Nickel
* Silicon
Strategic Partnerships and Milestones
- BlueScope Steel: In 2024/2025, Helios entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BlueScopeX, the venture arm of global steel giant BlueScope, to trial its green iron technology in industrial settings.
- DARPA LunA-10: Helios was selected by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to contribute to the "10-Year Lunar Architecture" (LunA-10) study, specifically focusing on the commercial viability of lunar oxygen and metal production.
- Eta Space Collaboration: Helios has partnered with Florida-based Eta Space to develop integrated systems for the production, liquefaction, and storage of oxygen on the lunar surface.
Corporate Profile
- Headquarters: Petah Tikva, Israel.
- Leadership: Led by CEO and Co-founder Jonathan Geifman.
- Backing: Supported by the Israel Space Agency, the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, the Israel Innovation Authority, and venture capital firms such as OurCrowd and At One Ventures.
- Vision: To enable sustainable human life on Earth and beyond by securing the elements of the future through zero-emission resource extraction.
