Tag: Helium-3

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Interlune wins $6.9M from NASA to analyze lunar gases

Interlune engineers working with hardware in Regolith Lab
Interlune engineers Alex Lewandowski and Jessica Wu check test equipment in the company's Regolith Lab. (Interlune Photo)

NASA has awarded a $6.9 million contract to Seattle-based Interlune for the development of a system that can extract gases such as helium-3 and hydrogen from lunar soil and rocks.

The system will be developed and tested on Earth under the terms of an 18-month Small Business Innovation Research Phase III grant, and then launched to the moon on a commercial robotic lander in 2028. Interlune says the project meshes with its plan to extract and market lunar helium-3 for applications on Earth ranging from quantum computing and medical imaging to neutron detection and commercial nuclear fusion.

“We’re gathering data and advancing technologies that serve multiple purposes across industry and government,” Rob Meyerson, co-founder and CEO of Interlune, said today in a news release. “NASA’s continued investment in space technology enables technology development projects like this one to ensure America’s leadership in building the lunar economy.”

Interlune’s payload will include a robotic arm and scoop to gather up moon dirt (technically known as regolith), a particle-sorting device, hardware for heating up lunar material and harvesting the gases that are given off, a multispectral camera capable of determining helium-3 concentrations, and a mass spectrometer that can analyze the gases.

“For the first time ever, we will measure volatile gases by heating lunar regolith while on the moon, dramatically advancing the scientific community’s understanding of its properties,” Interlune chief scientist Elizabeth Frank said. “The data we collect will also tell us how much power is needed to extract resources like helium-3.”

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Interlune brings in more cash to get set for moon mining

Illustration: Interlune Harvester on the moon
An artist’s conception shows the Interlune Harvester on the lunar surface. (Interlune Illustration)

Seattle-based Interlune is raising additional investment to support its campaign to identify and extract resources on the moon that can be brought back to Earth, starting with helium-3.

The fundraising effort came to light in a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week. The $5 million offering takes the form of a Simple Agreement for Future Equity, or SAFE, a contractual arrangement in which investors have the right to receive equity in the company at a later time.

In its initial filing on Jan. 28, Interlune reported that $500,000 of the offering had been sold to a set of six investors. The filing didn’t identify the investors.

In an emailed statement, Interlune CEO Rob Meyerson said the SAFE funding would help support the company’s preparations for the lunar missions ahead.

“Interlune has elected to raise $5 million on a Simple Agreement for Future Equity from existing and new investors to advance key technical milestones ahead of its next priced round,” Meyerson said. “We have several significant projects in the works, which we’re excited to announce shortly.”

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Interlune sets up a moon mission to hunt for helium

Illustration: Astrolab rover on the moon
An artist’s conception shows Astrolab’s FLIP rover on the moon. (Astrolab Illustration)

Seattle-based Interlune says it’s struck a deal with California-based Astrolab to send a multispectral camera to the moon to estimate how much helium-3 is present in lunar soil.

Interlune’s camera will be one of the payloads aboard Astrolab’s FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform rover, or FLIP for short. The FLIP rover is scheduled to take a piggyback ride to the moon’s south polar region aboard Astrobotics’ Griffin lander as soon as late 2025.

The mission will mark Interlune’s first off-Earth step in its campaign to identify and extract helium-3 from the moon and return it to Earth. Helium-3 can be used for applications ranging from quantum computing to security screening to fusion energy production. But it’s rare on Earth: Interlune has pegged the commercial price of helium-3 at as much as $20 million per kilogram.

Interlune is betting that lunar helium-3, which is produced when charged particles from the sun hit moon dirt, will become a cheaper source — and a source of revenue for the startup. The multispectral camera that Interlune has developed in partnership with NASA’s Ames Research Center will be used to estimate helium-3 quantities and concentration around Griffin’s landing site, without having to bring samples back to Earth.

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Interlune makes progress on its plans to mine the moon

Illustration: Interlune Harvester on the moon
An artist’s conception shows the Interlune Harvester on the lunar surface. (Interlune Illustration)

Seattle-based Interlune provided a triple-barreled update today on its progress toward mining helium-3 on the moon and returning that resource to Earth.

The startup joined Vermeer Corp., an industrial equipment manufacturer headquartered in Iowa, to unveil a full-scale prototype of an excavator that’s designed to ingest 100 metric tons of moon dirt in an hour. After the helium-3 is extracted, the machine would drop the rest of the dirt back onto the lunar surface in a continuous motion.

Also today, Interlune announced separate agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy and Maybell Quantum Industries to start supplying lunar helium-3 by 2029.

Helium-3 is an isotope that’s much rarer than the helium-4 that you typically find in lighter-than-air balloons. Helium-3 has a wide range of high-tech applications in fields that include quantum computing, fusion power, medical imaging and weapons detection for national security purposes.

The substance is hard to find on Earth, but it’s more abundant on the moon due to bombardment by solar-wind particles. Interlune aims to take advantage of the potential market by extracting lunar helium-3 and shipping it back to Earth.

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