MIT team turns space waste into new materials

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) team has won the first prize in Phase 2 of NASA’s LunaRecycle Challenge.

NASA’s competition aims to accelerate technologies that could reduce waste during future lunar and deep-space missions.

The CERBERUZ team has received US$ 775 000 (EUR 668 500) for developing a system that recycles mixed waste for lunar and deep-space missions. Rather than separating every material, the technology grinds mixed waste into a fine powder. It then uses materials such as Zotek foam as reinforcement.

The resulting powder can serve as feedstock for injection-moulded parts or 3D-printing filament. MIT’s innovative approach targets common mission waste, including fabrics, plastics, foam and metals. It could therefore reduce the need for extensive sorting during space missions.

Physical and digital solutions

CERBERUZ stands for Composites for Extraterrestrial Recycling By Engineering the Reuse and Upcycling of Zotek. The team includes undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students at MIT. It won in both Phase 2 competition tracks.

The first track focuses on developing physical recycling prototypes. The second focuses on virtual models, or digital twins, of recycling systems.

Other teams receiving awards include:

• Terasynth wins second place in the prototype track with its Lunar Re-Forge System
• RECLAIM from Penn State University receives the prototype track’s Most Innovative award
• Cislune wins the Highest Mass Efficiency award with its CRAFTER system
• Team Lovegrove wins the Most Trash Types Recycled award with LunaBrix
• Moon Made takes second place in the digital twin track with Fiber Forge
• Waste Parrot Technologies wins the Best Visualization award
• Terasynth also receives the People’s Choice award

Growing interest in recycling beyond Earth

Phase 2 follows the first phase of the LunaRecycle Challenge, which concluded in 2025. The competition attracted more than 1 200 registrations during Phase 1. NASA says this exceeds participation in any previous Centennial Challenge.

A panel of 50 judges assessed almost 200 submissions, selecting 17 winning teams from five countries and nine US states.

‘The LunaRecycle Challenge finale is the culmination of two years of innovation spurred by this competition,’ says Jennifer Edmunson, programme manager for Centennial Challenges at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. ‘It’s incredible to see these technologies go from concept to prototype and digital twin demonstrations in that time.’

The upcoming issue of Recycling Technology covers NASA’s competition and other notable space recycling projects.