Seattle-based Interlune has won a grant of up to $4.84 million from the Texas Space Commission to open a center of excellence at NASA’s Johnson Space Center focusing on simulated moon rocks and soil.
The center would be part of the Texas A&M University Space Institute, which is currently under construction on the grounds of the NASA center in Houston. Construction is due to be completed by September 2026.
Interlune was founded in 2020 with the aim of developing a system to harvest moon dirt, technically known as regolith, and extract resources for use on Earth. One of the key targets for extraction is helium-3, an isotope that can be used for applications ranging from quantum computing to fusion power. Helium-3 is much more abundant on the lunar surface than it is on Earth.
