UTSA e5 Lab + SwRI — MARS-C Electrochemical ISRU¶
University lab with deep patent portfolio building Mars electrolyzer for in-situ fuel and oxygen production
Created: Session 74 (2026-04-07)
Last updated: Session 74 (2026-04-07)
Team Profile¶
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Location | San Antonio, TX |
| Lead institution | University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) |
| Partner institution | Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) |
| Additional partner | University of Texas at Austin |
| PI | Shrihari "Shri" Sankarasubramanian (Assistant Professor, Biomedical & Chemical Engineering, UTSA) |
| Co-I | Kevin Supak (SwRI) |
| Co-I | Eugene Hoffman (SwRI) |
| Lab website | drshrisankar.com |
Dr. Sankarasubramanian is a prolific researcher in electrochemistry for extreme environments. His publication record and patent portfolio are unusually strong for an early-career professor: - 44 publications including Nature Energy and PNAS - 7 issued + 6 pending US patents - NAI Senior Member (National Academy of Inventors, elected Feb 2025) - Multi-agency funding: NASA, DARPA, DOE, ARPA-E, and industry
SwRI connection is significant. Southwest Research Institute is a major San Antonio-based nonprofit R&D organization ($640M+ annual revenue, 2,700 employees) with deep NASA heritage (including ALICE instrument on New Horizons, Lucy mission contributions). SwRI provides the mission engineering credibility that a university lab alone would lack.
FO Project¶
184153 — MARS-C: Mars Atmospheric Reactor for Synthesis of Consumables¶
- Status: Active (Jun 2025 – Jun 2027)
- TRL: 4 → 5 (target)
- TX: TX07.1.3: Resource Processing for Production of Mission Consumables
- Destination: Moon and Cislunar, Mars, Others Inside the Solar System
- Flight: Parabolic flights (reduced gravity testing of electrolyzer bubble dynamics)
Technology: Patent-pending electrochemical cell that produces oxygen, hydrogen, and C1/C2 hydrocarbons (including methane fuel and ethanol) from: - Water with dissolved/suspended minerals from Martian regolith (liquid brine) - Atmospheric CO₂
Key advantages over existing ISRU approaches: - Operates near Martian ambient conditions — lower SWaP than systems requiring heating/pressurization - No intermediate hydrogen production step — direct CO₂-to-hydrocarbons conversion - Single device, multiple products — simultaneous electrolysis of CO₂ and brine
Flight test objective: Acquire bubble nucleation and fluid motion data in an operating electrolyzer during parabolic flight. In reduced gravity (Moon, Mars), buoyancy effects on gas bubbles change dramatically, affecting electrolyzer efficiency. This data gap is what MARS-C addresses.
TechLeap Prize winner — selected from 200+ applicants for up to $500K + flight test opportunity.
TechPort Footprint¶
| Project | Program | Role | Period | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 184153 | FO | Lead | 2025–2027 | MARS-C electrolyzer |
Single TechPort project under UTSA. Sankarasubramanian's other NASA-funded work likely flows through standard research grants not tracked in TechPort's STMD-focused database.
Funding¶
USASpending¶
No contracts found under "University of Texas at San Antonio" for ISRU or electrochemical keywords. The TechLeap Prize ($500K) is the primary identified funding for this specific project.
Other funding (from web sources — not independently verified amounts)¶
- NASA grants: Multiple awards. In Nov 2024, UTSA announced Sankarasubramanian received NASA grants for "space travel projects" alongside another professor.
- DARPA, DOE, ARPA-E: Web sources indicate multi-agency funding history
- SwRI contribution: SwRI likely provides matching/in-kind support as a partner institution
Publications¶
Key MARS-C related publications:
-
Sankarasubramanian et al. — "On the viability of electrochemical carbon dioxide in-situ resource utilization to produce chemical feedstocks on Mars." Chemical Engineering Journal (2024). ScienceDirect — core technical paper establishing viability.
-
Sankarasubramanian — "Ultra-cold Electrolytic In-situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) for Fuel and Oxygen Production on Mars." UTSA Research Repository (2025). UTSA RRPress
Broader record: 44 publications total (Google Scholar), including papers in Nature Energy and PNAS. These are in his broader electrochemistry domain (energy storage, fuel cells), not all ISRU-specific.
Upstream Lineage¶
- Electrochemistry expertise: Sankarasubramanian's career spans fuel cells, batteries, and electrolyzers — the ISRU application is a natural extension of deep domain knowledge
- Patent portfolio: 7 issued + 6 pending patents on electrochemical processes. The MARS-C electrolyzer is patent-pending, suggesting commercial potential beyond the academic project
- SwRI planetary science heritage: SwRI has decades of NASA planetary mission involvement, providing mission context for the ISRU application
- No prior FO or SBIR history: This is the team's first entry into NASA's technology maturation pipeline via Flight Opportunities
Downstream Potential¶
- Artemis ISRU architecture: MARS-C addresses the same need as NASA's MOXIE demonstration (oxygen from CO₂ on Perseverance). MOXIE proved the concept; MARS-C offers a different electrochemical approach with additional products (hydrocarbons, not just oxygen). If NASA selects an electrochemical approach for production-scale lunar/Mars ISRU, MARS-C is a candidate technology.
- Dual-use terrestrial applications: Description explicitly mentions air purification for confined vehicles (spacecraft, submarines), distributed/off-grid fuel production (forward operating bases, disaster recovery). This broadens the customer base beyond NASA.
- Patent commercialization: The patent-pending status suggests the team is thinking about technology transfer, not just academic publication. A university-to-startup spinout is plausible.
- SwRI commercialization pathway: SwRI has its own technology licensing and spinout infrastructure. The SwRI partnership provides a more mature commercialization pathway than a university lab alone.
Assessment¶
| Dimension | Rating |
|---|---|
| Technology readiness | Mid-stage (TRL 4, lab-validated at Martian conditions, needs reduced-gravity data) |
| Academic foundation | Exceptional — 44 publications, Nature Energy/PNAS, 7+ patents, NAI Senior Member |
| Institutional support | Strong — SwRI partnership, UT Austin collaboration |
| Funding trajectory | Early for space ($500K TechLeap), but multi-agency funding base |
| Downstream impact | Too early to assess — depends on Artemis ISRU architecture decisions |
| Confidence | Suggestive — strong science and patents, but production-scale ISRU is 10+ years away |
Time dimension: Sankarasubramanian's electrochemistry career spans many years; the ISRU application appears in publications starting ~2024. TechLeap Prize Jun 2025. FO project 2025-2027. Parabolic flights targeted 2026. The science is mature but the space application is new.
Key insight: MARS-C is the strongest academic foundation of any TechLeap winner — 44 publications, 13 patents, NAI membership, and multi-agency funding create a deep IP moat. The SwRI partnership adds mission credibility. The key question is whether this stays an academic project or transitions to a commercial entity. The patent-pending electrolyzer suggests the team is positioning for commercialization.
Comparison to other ISRU TechLeap winners: AeroFly (Rego-LIFT) addresses regolith handling/transport — a different part of the ISRU value chain. MARS-C addresses chemical conversion of resources to consumables. They're complementary, not competing.
Open Questions¶
- What is the "e5 Lab" — is this the name of Sankarasubramanian's lab at UTSA? (Referenced in TechLeap materials but not found in web searches)
- What specific NASA grants does Sankarasubramanian hold beyond TechLeap? (Nov 2024 UTSA article mentions grants but no details)
- Is a startup/spinout planned to commercialize the patent-pending electrolyzer?
- How does MARS-C compare technically to MOXIE's solid oxide electrolysis approach? (MARS-C uses liquid-phase electrolysis vs. MOXIE's gas-phase)
- What is the electrode composition and lifetime? (Critical for production-scale operations)
Sources: TechPort 184153; NASA TechLeap Prize; SwRI press release (Jul 2025); UTSA Today (Jul 2025, Nov 2024); UTSA Klesse College news; Chemical Engineering Journal (2024); UTSA RRPress; ResearchGate; Google Scholar; Bioengineer.org; SpaceDaily; KENS5