Creation-Space Names Petram Winner of the Jonathan Merage Global Subsurface Tech Challenge; Awards $40,000 Prize for Earth-Space Innovation

MITZPE RAMON, Israel, Aug. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Petram, a U.S.-based deep-tech venture, has won the Jonathan Merage Global Subsurface Tech Challenge and a $40,000 prize for a low-noise, electric rock-breaking technology built to serve heavy industry on Earth today and subsurface construction on the Moon tomorrow. Petram was selected from dozens of global applicants.

Creation-Space, a global commercial innovation platform that cultivates ventures with dual value technologies that create value on Earth today and in emerging space markets - and is the driving force behind the Mitzpe Ramon Space City Initiative, an international hub for extreme-environment innovation, robotics, digital twin simulation, access to space, and frontier entrepreneurship. It ran the challenge together with a global, multidisciplinary consortium of partners that includes the Jonathan Merage Foundation, Meitar Law Offices, Shapir Engineering and Industry Ltd., Access ConTech, Synergy 7, and CreationsVC. 

The challenge asked applicants to solve any of three critical bottlenecks in subsurface extreme environments on Earth and on other terrestrial bodies: autonomous navigation in solid media, continuous material removal, and system resilience across varying geological substrates.

"Creation-Space specializes in transforming mission-critical technical needs into commercial solutions," said Dr. Roy Naor, CEO of Creation-Space. "By approaching complex problems through structured global initiatives, we attract high-precision solutions like Petram that can scale across both the $2 trillion projected space economy and massive terrestrial industries."

The Winning Breakthrough: Quiet Shockwave Crushing

Petram, whose technology spun out of the request of NASA for planetary subsurface energy efficient rock-breaking solution develops a high-power electric pulse (HPEP) system for eco-friendly rock-breaking, replacing explosives and chemicals with clean electricity and water. Their precision technology enables low-noise, vibration-free excavation and resource recovery for construction, mining, defense and sustainable energy, including geothermal, with precise control of subsurface material fragmentation for both terrestrial and planetary bodies. 

The $40,000 prize, provided by the Jonathan Merage Foundation, includes a fully hosted professional visit to Creation-Space's innovation ecosystem in Mitzpe Ramon Space City, along with engagement with the competition's partners across heavy industry, investors, philanthropy, legal frameworks, and deep-tech venture development. The challenge also received sponsorship support from Shapir Engineering and Industry Ltd. and Meitar Law Offices.

"Petram's quiet plasma-based shockwave crushing technology exemplifies the kind of breakthrough we seek, solutions that can fundamentally transform industries on Earth while enabling future space infrastructure," said Jonathan Merage, President of the Jonathan Merage Foundation. "Initiatives like this strengthen Mitzpe Ramon's role as a global hub for space construction and deep tech."

This is the outcome Creation-Space challenges are made to produce. Creation-Space turns a defined technical need from industry and its partners into a structured global competition, then connects the winning venture to the capital, testing infrastructure, and industry relationships that carry a technology toward real deployment.

The "Dual-Value" Strategy: From Earth to the Moon

Petram's selection reflects the dual-value model at the center of how Creation-Space works, prioritizing technologies with immediate commercial utility on Earth while building the capabilities required for a sustained lunar and Martian economy.

On Earth, Petram's technology offers faster, lower-cost, low-impact excavation for mining, construction, demolition, geothermal energy, and urban infrastructure. On other terrestrial bodies, the same system is designed to enable subsurface tunneling for radiation-shielded habitats, server farms, and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU).

About Creation-Space

Creation-Space cultivates dual-value companies, technologies and infrastructure that serve both commercial markets on Earth and the emerging space economy. Its model combines venture creation, strategic capital, and hands-on testing environments, including the EXPAND deep-tech accelerator - to deliver scalable solutions beyond Earth orbit. For more information and to join the challenge please visit: www.creation-space.com, Join The Challenge. Apply Here.

About Petram 

Petram Technologies provides the most energy efficient rock-break solutions on Earth. Based on initial NASA-funded research at Auburn University, Petram holds 11 patents and has commercialized its Mjolnir product across demolition and utility infrastructure with integration into electric construction vehicles underway. The company is developing technology for mining, residential and industrial geothermal, and agricultural irrigation. Recent recognition includes Top 5 Cleantech Innovations, Top Rock-Breaking Technology, and Top 50 ConTech startups worldwide. For more information please visit: www.petramtechnologies.com.

Media Contacts:

Creation-Space:
[email protected]

Petram Technologies:
Franco Magnotti
[email protected]

SOURCE Creation-Space