Paragon Aims for 98% Water Recovery on ISS

Paragon Space Development Corporation Press Release: 

Paragon Space Development Corporation® Wins NASA ISS Water Processor Development Contract

TUCSON, AZ (February 22, 2016) – NASA has awarded Paragon with a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III contract for the patented Ionomer-membrane Water Processor (IWP) System. IWP will provide the platform for up to 98% water recovery in future deep space exploration missions with its initial application planned for installment on the International Space Station (ISS).

“Paragon’s mission is to provide these best-of-class solutions for life support in any extreme environment such as in space, underwater, or underground. Recycled, clean water is one of the key elements to human survival and with this program we will be able to provide the solution that provides that water reliably over long durations,” said Grant Anderson, Paragon President and CEO. “We are excited to have NASA acknowledge our advancements in this technology and benefiting from the SBIR investments by going the next step to implementation with this contract.”

“Paragon’s original concept was to develop the technology that would improve and simplify water recovery processes for space applications. IWP will do just that by providing near complete removal of water from highly contaminated wastewater. The same technology can be used for in-situ processing of water recovered on Mars or asteroids,” said Laura Kelsey, IWP Program Manager.

With this Phase III contract Paragon reaffirms its commitment to advancing SBIR innovations into the commercial market and applying them to today’s technical challenges.

Non-space uses include water recovery and purification for a multitude of industries thereby benefiting people and companies on Earth.

End release

Note: This is a great example of what NASA is doing right, and why ISS is vitally important as an evolutionary testbed for technologies and systems which need to be fully understood before they are employed in deeper space. There is hardly anything more central to the challenges of living in, and not just reaching a frontier, than effectively reclaiming and utilizing water from all available sources. And the most important word in the press release is probably “simplify.” Whatever gets built, ultimately gets broken. Being able to repair it is the key.