MARVEL (Microwave heating Apparatus for Regolith Variant Experiments for Lunar ISRU) is a collaborative project between the Open University, Added Value Solutions UK Ltd. and VIPER RF. The team has been developing the Microwave Heating Demonstrator (MHD) payload since 2019 with the ambition to perform pre-defined experiments on the Moon, which explore the potential of microwave heating-based 3D printing for developing a lunar construction process and in-situ resource extraction, available for selection on future NASA/ESA missions to the Moon. The final goal of the MARVEL project is to support ESA’s Terrae Novae 2030+ strategy roadmap for the Moon, particularly for the large surface habitat and ISRU pilot plant & excavation missions. The initial concept development of the MHD payload was completed with support from UKSA’s NSTP GEI (GEI2-037), Pathfinder (PF3-090), Space Exploration Technology (UKSAG21_0088), and ESA’s Off-Earth Manufacturing and Construction Campaign (4000133998/21/NL/GLC) (Figure 1).

In this presentation, we will report the current progress of the MHD development conducted through the ESA’s Off-Earth Manufacturing and Construction Campaign as part of the Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP), focusing on the challenges with optimising the heating performance of the MHD cavity design.