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Interlune digs into opportunities for lunar construction

Interlune prototype excavator being tested on rocky patch of land
Interlune and Vermeer worked together to test a full-scale prototype of an excavator with auxiliary components. (Interlune / Vermeer Photo)

Interlune is leveraging a $150,000 NASA contract to develop develop lunar trenching and excavation technology — and although the primary goal is to extract valuable helium-3 from moon dirt, the project also signals the company’s broader play for lunar infrastructure.

Interlune’s work on the Small Business Technology Transfer Phase 1 contract, done in partnership with the Colorado School of Mines, demonstrates that the Seattle-based startup’s business model isn’t limited to helium-3. In the years ahead, the technologies pioneered by Interlune for resource extraction can also be used for building roads, base camps and other construction projects on the moon.

For example, the excavator that’s the focus of the NASA funding — known as the Scalable Implement for Lunar Trenching, or SILT — will support Interlune’ plan to sift through tons of lunar soil. But it will also support NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable lunar presence in the 2030s.

“We’re looking at some other tools that would move regolith around, or prepare a site for making a road or building a radiation berm, burying a certain piece of infrastructure like a nuclear reactor,” Interlune CEO Rob Meyerson told me. “So, we’re very interested in participating in the Artemis program in broader ways, and we think the technology we’re developing for helium-3 extraction can support that.”

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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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First Mode gets specific about its clean-tech layoffs

Opening ceremony for First Mode Seattle factory
First Mode CEO Julian Soles speaks at the February opening of the company's Seattle factory. (First Mode Photo)

Seattle-based First Mode is reporting that 65 of its workers in Washington state are being laid off in a move that follows through on a previously announced plan to trim back operations at the clean-tech company.

The layoffs were cited in a notice filed today with the state’s Employment Security Department. The reported job reductions represent nearly 40% of First Mode’s Washington state workforce in Seattle and Centralia.

First Mode produces powertrain conversion kits that are designed to reduce carbon emissions for mining trucks and other heavyweight vehicles, potentially including railway locomotives.

Back in January, the company said that it would put less emphasis on hydrogen-battery powertrains and more emphasis on hybrid diesel-battery powertrains — and that it would have to reduce its workforce to adjust to changing market conditions.

About 20% of First Mode’s U.S.-based workforce was laid off in January. Last month, First Mode said it would have to make further cuts in preparation for seeking further investment.

“Despite efforts to revisit non-labor costs, significantly reducing recruitment, and terminating most contract labor to avoid headcount reductions, we still are not able to achieve the cost basis required and therefore must propose headcount reductions going forward,” First Mode CEO Julian Soles said in an email that was sent to employees in advance of today’s notice.

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Interlune tests system for processing moon soil

Maia Willebrand with Interlune hardware on parabolic airplane flight
Former Interlune intern Maia Willebrand helps test an early prototype of Interlune’s soil-processing hardware on a parabolic flight in February. Interlune funded the February flight, but a NASA grant will support future flights. (Zero Gravity Corp. Photo / Steve Boxall)

Seattle-based Interlune has received a $348,000 grant from NASA to test its system for processing lunar soil on a series of reduced-gravity airplane flights — marking one more small step toward harvesting helium-3 and other resources on the moon.

The project is one of 11 selected for funding through NASA’s TechFlights program, which supports space technology testing on suborbital rockets, rocket-powered landers or airplane-based platforms.

Interlune’s system is known as CRUMBLE — an acronym that stands for “Comminution of Regolith Using Milling for Beneficiation of Lunar Extract.” Basically, the system would break down lunar dirt and rock, or regolith, and make it easier to extract potentially valuable ingredients such as helium-3.

The TechFlights grant will fund parabolic flights provided by Zero Gravity Corp. to see which kinds of equipment would work best in the airless, reduced-gravity conditions present on the moon’s surface. Interlune would use simulated moon dirt to put prototypes for its CRUMBLE processor through their paces.

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First Mode’s clean-tech factory uses smart tech as well

Ribbon-cutting ceremony at First Mode factory
First Mode CEO Julian Soles wields a giant scissors at a factory ribbon-cutting ceremony with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to the right and Albert Gore, executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, to the left. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

There’s not much that’s bolted down the floor of the 40,000-square-foot factory in Seattle’s SoDo district where First Mode plans to build powertrain conversion kits for mining trucks — and that’s by design.

“The factory itself represents the latest in smart manufacturing,” First Mode CEO Julian Soles said during today’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee in attendance. “It’s ‘software-defined’ rather than a hard-point-constrained facility. Nearly every components shelf and assembly sequence is digitized for maximum speed and data management.”

If the production requirements change, the floor plan can change accordingly. First Mode is also taking advantage of digital tools for tracking the supply chain.

“Every workstation, every inventory location, every product that moves through the facility is equipped with a bar code and has a digital twin,” Philipp Nonnast, senior global supply manager for First Mode, explained during a factory tour.

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First Mode downsizes and revises its clean tech plans

First Mode hybrid diesel-electric truck during test drive
First Mode’s hybrid diesel-electric truck takes on its first tests in Centralia, Wash. (First Mode via LinkedIn)

First Mode says it’s cutting back on its workforce as it adjusts to the market demand for heavy trucks that rely less on fossil fuels.

The workforce in the U.S., which currently amounts to about 240 people, is being immediately reduced by about 20%, First Mode CEO Julian Soles said in an email sent to employees today. Most of those employees are in Washington state — for example, at First Mode’s Seattle HQ and at its proving grounds in Centralia, Wash.

About 125 additional employees work in non-U.S. offices. Soles said operations in Australia, Britain and South Africa “may also possibly experience redundancies,” while operations in Chile are “not currently impacted.”

Despite the cutbacks, First Mode is continuing with plans to retrofit mining trucks to reduce their carbon footprint and address the climate challenge. “This is the year that we deliver commercial products to our customer sites. It is also when we finalise our transformation from an engineering services firm to a global decarbonisation product company,” Soles wrote, using British spellings.

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Clean-energy funding gives ‘Hydrogen Valley’ a boost

Zero-emission haul truck
This ore-hauling truck is powered by a hydrogen-fueled powerplant. (First Mode / Anglo American Photo)

First Mode, the clean-energy company that was recently transformed from a Seattle startup into an Anglo American subsidiary, is getting a boost from Washington state.

The Washington State Department of Commerce awarded $250,000 in economic development funding to the Economic Alliance of Lewis County to help First Mode with design and construction costs related to the company’s future facility in Centralia, Wash.

First Mode is planning to turn a former coal mine site, leased from TransAlta, into a proving grounds for its hydrogen-fueled hybrid powertrain for heavy mining trucks. The building plan calls for providing 7,500 square feet of office space and 20,000 square feet of outdoor yard space, with an option for expansion.

The powertrains have been under development at First Mode’s lab in Seattle, and last year a prototype truck made its debut at a platinum mine in South Africa.

Eventually, Anglo American plans to have First Mode convert hundreds of ultra-class haul trucks to run on hydrogen and battery power. The technology for the trucks and the fueling and charging infrastructure will be tested at the Centralia site.

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First Mode goes all in on clean energy for heavy industry

Zero-emission haul truck
This ore-hauling truck is powered by a hydrogen-fueled powerplant. (First Mode / Anglo American Photo)

Seattle-based First Mode and Anglo American have closed a complicated $1.5 billion transaction that will remake First Mode as a clean-energy company for heavy industry — and shift its headquarters to London.

Anglo American, a global mining company, is now First Mode’s majority shareholder. The change of status was reflected in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reported a $1.184 billion equity offering sold to Anglo American. That’s in addition to a $200 million cash injection that Anglo American is providing, First Mode spokeswoman Colleen Rubart told me in an email.

Rubart said the balance of the $1.5 billion comes in the form of contributions of intellectual property, contracts, facilities and other assets from both of the parties involved in the deal. The deal closed on Jan. 5, she said.

The business combination, which was announced last year, blends First Mode’s engineering operation with Anglo American’s nuGen effort to develop a zero-emission system for hauling ore. First Mode created the hydrogen-fueled hybrid powerplant for Anglo American’s nuGen mining truck, which made its debut in South Africa last year as the world’s largest zero-emission vehicle.

Going forward, First Mode will supply nuGen systems to Anglo American. The project will include the retrofit of about 400 ultra-class haul trucks with First Mode’s powerplant, plus the provision of infrastructure for hydrogen production, refueling and battery recharging.

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First Mode’s zero-emission ambitions get a $200M boost

Anglo American mining truck
First Mode built the power plant for the world’s largest zero-emission truck. (Anglo American Photo)

Seattle-based First Mode and the Anglo American mining company have signed a binding agreement to combine First Mode with Anglo American’s nuGen effort to develop a zero-emission system for hauling ore. The transaction, which is expected to close next month, values the newly combined business at around $1.5 billion and includes a $200 million equity injection from Anglo American.

The outlines of the business combination plan were first announced in June. At that time, Anglo American said the terms of the agreement were non-binding, and the financial details weren’t released.

First Mode is an engineering company that initially focused on providing expertise for space projects such as NASA’s Perseverance rover mission and the Psyche mission to a metal-rich asteroid. But in recent years, it’s devoted increasing attention to carbon-reduction technologies for heavy industry.

The company provided the hydrogen-fueled hybrid power plant for Anglo American’s nuGen mining truck, which made its debut in South Africa this year as the world’s largest zero-emission vehicle.

“First Mode was founded in 2018 with the goal of building the barely possible,” Chris Voorhees, First Mode’s president and CEO, said today in a news release. “We have done just that, and our mission is now to rapidly decarbonize heavy industry by dramatically reducing our customers’ greenhouse gas emissions. I can’t imagine a team better suited to this urgent challenge.”

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First Mode sets up test site for zero-emission trucks

Anglo American mining truck
First Mode built the power plant for the world’s largest zero-emission truck. (Anglo American Photo)

First Mode is establishing a proving grounds between Seattle and Portland to test and optimize giant zero-emission hauling trucks and the hydrogen-based infrastructure they’ll depend on.

The Seattle-based engineering venture says its leased facility at the TransAlta Centralia Mine, 85 miles south of Seattle, will include 7,500 square feet of office space and 20,000 square feet of outdoor yard space. “We plan to expand our footprint and activities in the future,” First Mode said in an emailed statement.

First Mode’s first job in Centralia will be to bring in a fleet of Komatsu 930E-4 ultra-class haul trucks and retrofit them with hybrid battery and hydrogen fuel cell power plants. Such conversions follow the model set in May, when the Anglo American mining company successfully deployed a proof-of-concept hybrid haul truck at its Mogalakwena mine in South Africa. First Mode developed the hybrid power plant for that truck, the world’s largest zero-emission vehicle.

“The First Mode Proving Grounds in Centralia is a critical next step in our mission to help heavy industry eliminate diesel and transition to clean energy,” First Mode CEO Chris Voorhees said today in a news release. “The site will support both the optimization of ultra-class haul trucks and the full infrastructure associated with diesel-free mobility and the production and distribution of clean energy.”

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