Insider Brief
- Interlune, a Seattle-based startup, has secured two landmark helium-3 supply deals: one with the U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program and another with Maybell Quantum, its first commercial customer.
- The DOE agreement represents the first government purchase of a non-terrestrial resource, while Maybell plans to use helium-3 for quantum refrigeration starting in 2029 as the demand for scalable quantum computing grows.
- Interlune will process helium-3 directly on the Moon using a lightweight, energy-efficient harvester, with initial deliveries returning to Earth and future operations aimed at building a long-term in-space economy.
A Seattle-based startup with plans of mining the Moon for helium-3 is already booking customers.
Interlune has announced two deals this week signaling that its vision of commercial lunar resource extraction is moving closer to reality. According to the company, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Isotope Program (DOE IP) has agreed to purchase three liters of helium-3 harvested from the Moon by April 2029. In a parallel announcement, quantum refrigeration company Maybell Quantum signed on as Interlune’s first commercial customer, with plans to buy thousands of liters of helium-3 annually between 2029 and 2035.
The deals mark a turning point in the long-theorized promise of lunar resource mining, particularly for helium-3, a rare isotope on Earth but relatively abundant in the Moon’s surface due to its exposure to solar wind. Helium-3 has several high-value uses, including in weapons detection, cryogenic refrigeration for quantum computers, medical imaging, and as a potential clean fuel for fusion energy.
“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. “We look forward to continued collaboration with the DOE IP and other government agencies to incentivize Interlune and other companies to provide key isotopes for our nation and to create a long-term in-space economy.”
The DOE contract is historically significant. It represents the first government purchase of a non-terrestrial natural resource, setting a precedent for future public-private partnerships in space mining. The three-liter commitment is large enough to require full extraction and processing on the Moon rather than returning raw regolith to Earth.
“This amount is too large to return to Earth,” said Meyerson. “Processing this amount of regolith requires us to demonstrate our operations at a useful scale on the Moon.”
Maybell Quantum’s agreement, meanwhile, reflects the commercial urgency. As demand for quantum computing accelerates, so does the need for helium-3, a critical component in dilution refrigerators that cool quantum systems to temperatures near absolute zero. Maybell CEO Corban Tillemann-Dick noted that the global quantum computing fleet is expected to grow from hundreds to tens of thousands of systems, all dependent on reliable helium-3 supply.
“Helium-3 will fuel a fundamental transformation in computing,” said Corban Tillemann-Dick, founder and CEO of Maybell Quantum. “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.”
Rob Meyerson, Interlune co-founder and CEO said of the agreement, “We are thrilled and honored to book our first commercial order with a company delivering real-world breakthroughs on the ground every day while simultaneously planning for a radically expanded quantum future that’s right around the corner.”
The agreements coincide with the unveiling of the Interlune harvester—which is lighter and less energy-intensive than competing concepts—will excavate and separate helium-3 from lunar regolith directly on the Moon. The company’s design choices, funded in part by the DOE and NASA TechFlights grants, aim to make the system economical to transport and operate in space.
The implications go beyond terrestrial supply chains. With successful demonstration of lunar processing, Interlune could help seed an in-space economy, where helium-3 and other materials are used locally to power missions, fuel reactors, or sustain permanent lunar infrastructure.
The company is planning several lunar missions over the next few years, supported by $18 million in seed funding and government research grants. While initial helium-3 deliveries will be sent back to Earth, future harvests may remain in space to support Moon-based operations or farther exploration, according to the company.
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