Companies to Build Moon-Mining Tech

Interlune is spearheaded by a team with deep space heritage, including former Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson, chief architect Gary Lai, and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt, the only geologist to have walked on the Moon. The company recently emerged from stealth mode, securing $18 million in funding to develop its lunar harvesting technology. The primary target for this lunar mining operation is Helium-3, an isotope that is extremely rare on Earth but thought to be abundant on the Moon, deposited by solar winds over billions of years. This resource is highly valued for its potential applications in national security, medical imaging, quantum computing, and as a fuel for future nuclear fusion reactors. Interlune's approach involves a lunar harvester designed to be smaller, lighter, and ten times more energy-efficient than other concepts. A prototype of their excavator is designed to process 110 tons of lunar soil, or regolith, per hour to extract the valuable gas. Astrolab's Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover is a key piece of the partnership, designed to be a versatile workhorse for the lunar surface. It can transport up to 1,600 kg of payload, carry two astronauts, and be operated remotely from Earth. The company holds an agreement with SpaceX to deliver a FLEX rover to the Moon as soon as mid-2026. This collaboration is part of a burgeoning commercial lunar industry that includes companies like Moon Express and iSpace. These ventures operate within the framework of the Artemis Accords, a set of non-binding principles grounded in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which guides civil space exploration and the utilization of space resources. The Accords assert that resource extraction can be conducted in compliance with international law.