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 [1,2] 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. 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). We have completed another follow-on project funded by UKSA (USAG22_0046D) for 15 months (December 2022 - February 2024) to manufacture a barebone system of the MHD payload for validating/evaluating the microwave cavity’s heating performance (Figure 1 [3]).

In this presentation, we will report significantly updated subsystems of the MHD payload and the preliminary testing on the barebone system, including the microwave cavity and the 250 W Solid-State Microwave Generator.