Abstract:
The permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of the lunar polar areas receive no direct sunlight, resulting in extremely low temperatures (below 110 K) and a near-total absence of solar energy, which renders conventional solar-powered mining infeasible. To address the energy supply challenges for water ice extraction in these PSRs, this paper proposes a solar concentrating and transmission system specifically developed for photothermal mining of lunar water ice. The proposed system overcomes the energy scarcity by capturing sunlight in adjacent sunlit areas and delivering it into the PSRs via an optical path. The system is composed of three main modules: a solar concentrator, an optical fiber transmission system, and a secondary optical beam-shaping system. The solar concentrator integrates a Fresnel lens array and a beam-reducing lens group, which focuses sunlight into a spot with a diameter of 9 mm and an energy density as high as 5.6×10
6 W/m
2. This focused beam is efficiently coupled into a fiber optic bundle, enabling long-distance, low-loss energy transmission from sunlit regions to the PSRs. Subsequently, the secondary optical system allows continuous adjustment of the output spot diameter from 66 mm to 490 mm, corresponding to an irradiance range of 2×10
3 W/m
2 to 1.18×10
5 W/m
2. Simulation results demonstrate that the system achieves excellent beam uniformity, with spot uniformity exceeding 83% across all configurations, and enables precise control over energy distribution. Based on the energy threshold for water ice sublimation (>
1000 W/m
2), the system is projected to support an effective mining spot diameter of up to 846 mm, indicating significant potential for large-scale water ice extraction. The proposed “concentration–transmission–redistribution” integrated design offers a robust and scalable solution to the energy bottleneck in lunar polar ice mining. This work provides a theoretical foundation and practical design reference for future lunar base construction, In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), and long-duration deep space exploration missions, particularly for subsequent lunar research station plans.