Sierra Space
U.S. space company that built the carbothermal oxygen production reactor used in NASA's Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration (CaRD) ground tests on lunar regolith simulant.
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Resources and evidence
Each resource shows the highest step primary sources support. How the ladder works.
| Resource | Evidence | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Oxygen | Claimed | says it will |
Demonstrated
Ground tests only, on simulant. NASA reported on 2023-04-25 that its CaRD team at Johnson Space Center extracted oxygen from lunar soil simulant in a 15-foot vacuum chamber, using a high-powered laser in place of concentrated sunlight to melt the simulant in a Sierra Space carbothermal reactor; the measurement NASA describes is carbon monoxide detected with an MSolo mass spectrometer. Sierra Space states its Carbothermal Oxygen Production Reactor completed thermal vacuum testing at NASA Johnson Space Center (announced 2024-09-17); NASA reported in February 2026 that the integrated CaRD prototype, including the Sierra Space reactor, extracted oxygen from simulated lunar soil using concentrated sunlight. No oxygen quantity is stated in the NASA releases read.
Claimed or planned
Sierra Space states the hardware reached TRL-6 and is mature enough to be incorporated into a lunar flight mission as a technology demonstrator; no flight is manifested in the sources found.
Facts
- Headquarters
- United States
- Type
- Company
- Status
- Activeas of 2026-02-13. NASA's 2026-02-13 CaRD article names Sierra Space as the reactor developer; this record does not cover Sierra Space's broader corporate status beyond that.
- Roles
- Processing / ISRU
- Targets
- Moon
- Also known as
- Sierra Space Corporation
- Website
- www.sierraspace.com
Open evidence gaps
- Founding year and corporate history (spin-out from Sierra Nevada Corporation) not confirmed from a primary source.
- Whether any lunar flight demonstration of the reactor is funded or manifested.
Sources
7 excerpts from 3 publicationsOne web address counts as one publication.
The integrated prototype brought together a carbothermal oxygen production reactor developed by Sierra Space, a solar concentrator designed by NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland
The CaRD team performed integrated prototype testing that used concentrated solar energy to extract oxygen from simulated lunar soil, while confirming the production of carbon monoxide through a solar-driven chemical reaction.
the company's proprietary Carbothermal Oxygen Production Reactor has successfully completed thermal vacuum testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center
These efforts confirmed that the hardware has advanced to Technology Readiness Level Six, or TRL-6, meaning it has the maturation to be incorporated into a flight mission to the moon as a technology demonstrator.
LOUISVILLE, Colo. - September 17, 2024 - Sierra Space
melted the lunar soil simulant within a carbothermal reactor developed for NASA by Sierra Space Corp., of Broomfield, Colorado
After the soil was heated, the team was able to detect carbon monoxide using a device called the Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations (MSolo).
Cite this record
SpaceMiningData, “Sierra Space”, dataset version a00fa2c68a45, built 2026-11-11, https://spaceminingdata.com/organizations/sierra-space.html. Record checked 2026-10-05.