A US company unveils a lunar excavator that could unlock the Moon's $1 trillion value.
Lunar mining is rapidly shifting from science fiction to a national priority, with space agency NASA aiming to start excavating the soil there by 2032. Alongside larger government projects, some independent US companies are making immense progress.
Interlune, a startup by NASA and the US Department of Energy has developed a high-tech lunar excavator capable of mining one of the Moon’s most valuable resources. Partnering with Iowa-based industrial equipment manufacturer Vermeer, Interlune plans to extract Helium-3 directly from the Moon's surface.
How does the lunar excavator work?
Designed to operate in the Moon’s extreme temperatures and vacuum environments, the full-scale excavator prototype can dig through 100 metric tonnes of lunar soil per hour. It's fully electric and can autonomously sort and extract helium-3 for shipment back to Earth.
Interlune's press release reads: "Excavation is the first in a four-step proprietary system to harvest natural resources from space: Excavate, Sort, Extract, and Separate.
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"The Interlune excavator operates continuously and its design reduces tractive force, power consumption, and dust compared to traditional trench-digging techniques.
Already, Interlune has agreed to its first two customers for 2029. One of them is Maybell Quantum, a company specialising in quantum refrigeration, with plans to buy thousands of litres of helium-3 annually between 2029 and 2035.
“This inaugural purchase of lunar helium-3 from Interlune demonstrates the crucial need for a larger supply of this resource here on Earth,” said Rob Meyerson, co-founder and CEO of Interlune.
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Maybell views the supply of Helium-3 as a 'fundamental transformation in computing.' Corban Tillemann-Dick, founder and CEO of Maybell Quantum, explained: “In the coming years, we’ll go from a few hundred quantum computers worldwide to thousands, then tens of thousands, and they all need to get cold.
"To get cold, they need dilution refrigeration running on helium-3.”
Why is Helium-3 so important?
Helium-3 is a rare isotope on Earth that holds significant potential for technological applications.
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While it's widely used in manufacturing high-tech components like fibre optics and superconductors, Helium-3's biggest promise lies in nuclear fusion. Fusion reactors powered by helium-3 would produce clean energy without the radioactive waste associated with current nuclear technologies.
Mining of Helium-3 supplies could completely reshape the world of technology and energy sectors.
How much is the Moon really worth?
The potential value of the Moon’s resources depends on how you look at it.
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Alone, Helium-3 is estimated to be worth anywhere between $3,000 and $15,000 per gram, according to OpenAI's ChatGPT. But, if all usable helium-3 were mined, its total market value could reach at least $3 trillion - and possibly as much as a whopping $15 quadrillion, ChatGPT estimated.
That said, the AI chatbot based this prediction on future technologies that can efficiently use Helium-3, something scientists are still working on.
What does the future of lunar exploration look like?
As companies like Interlune and Japan's Komatsu progress, the idea of lunar industrialisation is moving to reality. By 2030, we could see the first active mining operations on the Moon, collecting helium-3 and possibly other valuable materials.
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For startups like Interlune, it's not just about science but about creating a new economy that could revolutionise major industries on Earth.