The idea isn’t exactly new; in fact, helium-3 mining was a key plot point in “Moon,” a 2009 sci-fi movie. But Interlune is the first venture to try commercializing such an operation.

Seattle startup Interlune's newly unveiled machine is designed to churn up 110 tons (100 metric tons) of moon dirt per hour to harvest helium-3, a fuel for future fusion reactors.

Simply stated, helium-3 could help wean Earth off fossil fuels, framing lunar mining as an energy security and economic ...

The idea isn’t exactly new; in fact, helium-3 mining was a key plot point in “Moon,” a 2009 sci-fi movie. But Interlune is the first venture to try commercializing such an operation.

Through "non-destructive, sustainable harvesting," according to a joint statement, Magna Petra plans to one day extract "commercial quantities" of helium-3 isotopes from regolith on the lunar ...

US-based start up Interlune has unveiled helium-3 harvestor prototype for a novel moon-mining machine.Rob Meyerson, co-founder and CEO of the Seattle-based startup Interlune said: When you're ...

Helium 3 is rare on Earth, primarily produced by the radioactive decay of tritium, ... Mining and transportation costs must somehow be cheaper than Helion’s Earth-based manufacturing process.

Helium-3 now commands a stable price of around $20 million per kilogram, said Meyerson. Interlune is sharply focused near-term on extracting Helium-3 for superconducting quantum computing ...

Helium-3 could be an important raw material for the future and could be used as a fuel for fusion power plants, for example. However, the isotope is very rare on Earth. Interlune therefore wants ...

However, Steven Kwast, a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General and the CEO of SpaceBilt, claimed China has already started mining helium-3 from the moon. Helium-3 is a rare form of the gas ...

If someone wants to start a big, long-term project like mining helium-3—which could make a lot of money—it’s likely to spark a huge global argument about who gets to claim parts of the moon.