MOXIE is a 1-percent scale model of an oxygen processing plant capable of producing consumable grade (99.6 percent) oxygen at a rate of 20 grams per hour. The experiment will be conducted throughout several seasons over the course of a Martian year, demonstrating resilience with respect to dust and other environmental challenges.

As part of the Mars 2020 payload, MOXIE is significant to analyzing and determining if a specialized reverse fuel cell that consumes electricity to produce oxygen is a viable system. A system like this is also a crucial, necessary precursor to larger scale oxygen production plants on Mars.

MOXIE will demonstrate In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies to enable propellant and consumable oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere for future exploration missions.