Interlune, a Seattle-based startup, has made significant strides in its mission to mine helium-3 on the moon and transport it back to Earth. In a recent announcement, the company revealed a collaboration with Vermeer Corp., an industrial equipment manufacturer, to showcase a full-scale prototype of an excavator capable of extracting 100 metric tons of moon dirt per hour. Once the helium-3 is extracted, the excavator will return the remaining dirt to the lunar surface in a continuous process.
Additionally, Interlune disclosed agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy and Maybell Quantum Industries to commence the supply of lunar helium-3 by 2029. Helium-3, a rare isotope with various high-tech applications in quantum computing, fusion power, medical imaging, and national security, is more abundant on the moon due to solar-wind particle bombardment.
The partnership with Vermeer will play a crucial role in developing Interlune’s harvesting system, ensuring reliability and performance standards are met for operating equipment on the moon. The excavator, the first product resulting from the collaboration, will be integrated into a machine known as the Interlune Harvester, with ongoing exploration of other technologies for both space and Earth applications.
Maybell Quantum will be Interlune’s inaugural commercial customer, with plans to supply thousands of liters of helium-3 annually between 2029 and 2035 for use in dilution refrigerators powering quantum computing devices. The company also aims to deliver three liters of lunar helium-3 to the U.S. Department of Energy by April 2029, marking the first purchase of a non-terrestrial natural resource under the DOE Isotope Program.
Interlune has set the commercial price of helium-3 at $20 million per kilogram, with a significantly lower price per liter based on current market rates. The company’s innovative approach to extracting lunar helium-3 has garnered support from various entities, including grants from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Texas Space Commission.
Moving forward, Interlune plans to execute three missions over the next five years to test its hardware on the moon, showcasing its commitment to revolutionizing space resource utilization. The company’s roadmap includes missions such as Crescent Moon, Prospect Moon, and Harvest Moon, with a focus on validating helium-3 extraction methods and demonstrating the viability of transporting the resource back to Earth.
