Interlune, founded in 2020, is a natural resources company aiming to be the first to commercialize resources from space. Their primary focus is developing technology to extract Helium-3 from lunar regolith for use in quantum computing, fusion reactors, and other applications. Interlune plans to launch resource development missions in 2027 and establish a pilot plant on the Moon by 2029. The company has received funding from private investors, NASA, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
All verified mentions of this organization in source documents.
Interlune is led by veterans of commercial and civil space programs with decades of expertise in space systems and large-scale systems integration and with expertise in lunar geology and geotechnical engineering.
The $150,000 contract will fund development of analytical models, engineering standards, and testing hardware to inform the future design of Interlune’s multipurpose lunar trenching and excavation technology.
Interlune has secured more than $500 million in helium-3 purchase orders and government contracts.
Interlune is focusing on harvesting lunar helium-3 to sell to customers on Earth.
Interlune is a US-based startup racing to be the first to mine helium on the Moon.
Startups like Interlune have developed plans for robotic missions to prospect for and eventually extract helium-3 from lunar regolith.
Interlune's roadmap does not foresee returning helium-3 until at least the early 2030s.
Interlune, a startup led by former Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson, is pursuing helium-3 extraction from the Moon.
Interlune plans a 2027 demonstration mission to validate Helium-3 and other solar wind volatile concentrations at a potential harvesting site, evaluate the site for operations, and demonstrate Interlune’s proprietary extraction technology in the lunar environment.
Interlune plans to establish a lunar pilot plant in 2029 to prove out every step of its process, including returning meaningful quantities of Helium-3 to customers for a fraction of the launch mass and cost.
Interlune’s Helium-3 harvester design will use vision sensors and ground-penetrating radar to determine optimum harvesting routes and will include a robotic arm to move surface rocks too large to process.
NASA’s TechFlights program awarded Interlune a $348,000 grant in July to pay for testing of Interlune’s regolith-processing technology on Zero Gravity parabolic flights.
The National Science Foundation awarded Interlune a $246,028 grant in 2023 to develop and demonstrate a novel regolith size sorting system for use on the Moon with 10x smaller volume, 5x lower mass, and greater reliability than traditional devices.
Under the NASA TechFlights award, Interlune will test extraction technology with regolith simulants processed in a vacuum and will analyze trade-offs in size, weight, and power using parabolic flights to plan scaling to handle multiple tons of regolith.
Interlune raised $15,000,000 in a seed funding round in March led by Seven Seven Six.
Interlune plans to supply Helium-3 to terrestrial markets in the 2030s as an initial commercial step.
Interlune will build full-scale prototypes later 2024.
Interlune, a startup founded by former Blue Origin executives, aims to harvest helium-3 for applications like medical imaging and quantum computing.
Interlune plans three lunar missions starting in late 2026 or early 2027 for prospecting and establishing helium-3 harvesting operations.
Interlune's CEO Rob Meyerson stated that they have customers interested in helium-3, which is priced at $20 million per kilogram.