TU Dresden develops laser drill to explore icy moons

Researchers at the Institute of Aerospace Engineering at TU Dresden have developed a laser-based ice drilling system that could help to penetrate the kilometer-thick layers of ice on celestial bodies such as Jupiter's moon Europa or Saturn's Enceladus in the future. In this way, underground oceans and possible traces of past life could be investigated in a targeted manner. Initial laboratory and field tests on glaciers in the Alps and the Arctic have shown that snow and ice density can be reliably measured.

The laser drill is energy-efficient, easy to transport and uses laser light - an ideal method for space travel that could make traditional, heavy drilling systems superfluous. It remains completely on the surface and emits a highly concentrated laser beam into the ice. Sublimation converts the ice directly into gas without it becoming liquid. The result is a very narrow, deep drilling channel. "The icy moons have no atmospheres to speak of, so that, driven by the suction effect of the strong vacuum of space, the gas and dust samples rise through the borehole to the surface," reports Tino Schmiel, Head of the Satellite Systems and Space Sciences research field at TU Dresden. There they can be analyzed without the need for heavy drill pipes or energy-intensive melting probes.

The innovative technology offers the potential to collect detailed information on the composition, density and thermal properties of icy surfaces during future space missions. "Even if Germany is not currently planning its own landing mission on an icy moon, the laser ice drill could become a key technology for international research missions in the future," adds Schmiel.

At the same time, the same laser technology could be used on Earth, for example in avalanche research, as snow layers can be examined without the need for pit analysis.

TU Dresden plans to further miniaturize the system, optimize dust separation and qualify it for future use - both for space research and for applications on Earth.

Further Information:
Journal Acta Astronautica:
“First tests of a laser ice drill for the exploration of interplanetary ice and icy soils.” https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.08.049

Contact:
Dr.-Ing. Tino Schmiel
Institute of Aerospace Engineering
E-mail: