Since 2020, Hydromars, an ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC) alumnus, has been working on developing circular solutions for water recovery in space habitats
With ESA’s support through the ESA BIC Sweden and the ESA Payload Masters program, Hydromars’ first space-adapted test equipment, Hydro4M2, is scheduled for microgravity tests aboard the Nyx vehicle on Falcon 9 in June 2025.
Hydromars’ vision focuses on two essential goals: achieving total water recovery with minimal steps and recovering key nutrients vital for plant growth. These objectives lie at the core of Hydromars’ mission to tackle one of the most pressing challenges in space exploration, i.e. creating sustainable life support systems. “Despite advances in reusable rockets and electric propulsion, sustainable water management remains a key challenge in space” notes Hydromars’ CEO and Co-founder, Shorena Tsindeliani.
Originally developed for the semiconductor industry, Hydromars’ core technology has undergone extensive ground testing. The technology goes beyond conventional contaminant removal, since it effectively eliminates all volatiles, particle precursors, and sub-nano particles, enabling total water circularity. Over the course of 2024, Hydromars has developed the Hydro4M2 payload, from the initial sketch to a flight-ready system, designed to meet the stringent requirements of Falcon 9 rocket.
Scheduled for an In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) aboard The Exploration Company’s (TEC) Nyx orbital vehicle in June 2025, Hydro4M2 marks a breakthrough in compact water recovery technology. This system integrates the company’s core technology with advanced instrumentation and control, all within a shoebox-sized payload designed to validate its performance in the demanding conditions of space.
Despite size and power constraints, the Hydro4M2 payload is engineered to deliver critical insights, particularly into thermo-fluid dynamics in microgravity. These findings will play a key role in guiding the development of future Hydromars products.
Reflecting on the project’s journey, Arjun Monga, Hydro4M2 project lead, shares: “Starting from a blank slate, it was incredibly rewarding to create a working concept for an extraterrestrial water recovery system. The challenges were significant, but so were the opportunities to innovate.”
Hydromars: an ESA BIC Alumnus
Hydromars has been incubated in the ESA BIC Sweden (Uppsala Innovation Centre) from 2022 to 2024 and has benefited from the program in several ways. The ESA BIC Sweden is managed by Arctic Business and collaborates with regional partners, including Uppsala Innovation Centre, Innovatum, and Ideon Science Park, to promote innovation and support startups in the aerospace sector. The company received financial and technical support for its first prototype development for spaceship use. This work led to a patent for a simple and cost-effective purification method that doesn’t use chemical additives. In addition to funding, Hydromars received significant help from ESA engineers and access to clean-room facilities through the Uppsala Innovation Centre (UIC), which boosted their research and development efforts.
A boost from the Swedish National Space Agency
Following the successful handover of Hydro4M2 in December 2024, Hydromars was awarded a grant from the Swedish National Space Agency (Rymdstyrelsen) in Q1 2025 to advance its latest initiative, the SUSTAIN project. SUSTAIN is designed to deliver a comprehensive process design, focusing on advanced water purification and nutrient recovery for the upcoming commercial space stations. The fundings of the project support the development of next-generation technologies essential for the infrastructure of space stations and lunar bases. Hydromars is at the forefront of new technology development for achieving total recovery of water and nutrients.
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