US EditionSpace Resources Company Interlune Unveils Full-Scale Prototype of Excavator for Harvesting Helium-3 from the Moon
- On May 7, 2025, Interlune and Vermeer Corporation revealed a full-scale prototype excavator in Seattle and Iowa, engineered to extract lunar material at a high rate to support the collection of helium-3 from the Moon.
- This event follows Interlune's founding in 2020 to commercialize lunar natural resources amid growing industrial demand for helium-3 and Vermeer's long legacy in industrial equipment.
- The excavator is capable of processing a hundred metric tons of lunar soil every hour, initiating a unique four-stage method consisting of Excavation, Sorting, Extraction, and Separation.
- Interlune plans to begin supplying helium-3 to both government and commercial clients by 2029, having secured $18 million in funding along with agreements involving a U.S. Government isotope program and a quantum computing company as an initial commercial buyer.
- The partnership marks a milestone toward establishing a sustainable in-space economy using lunar resources, although legal uncertainties remain regarding lunar resource ownership under international treaties.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Interlune Unveils Prototype Lunar Helium-3 Excavator
Space resources startup Interlune announced yesterday that its first customers are ready to buy its Moon-mined Helium-3. The US Department of Energy Isotope Program (DOE IP) agreed to purchase three liters of the lunar-extracted Helium-3 for delivery no later than 2029. Interlune also unveiled a new commercial customer: Maybell Quantum. Maybell, a quantum computing infrastructure company building ultra-cool refrigerators to keep quantum devices …
Interlune makes progress on its plans to mine the moon
Seattle-based Interlune provided a triple-barreled update today on its progress toward mining helium-3 on the moon and returning that resource to Earth. The startup joined Vermeer Corp., an industrial equipment manufacturer headquartered in Iowa, to unveil a full-scale prototype of an excavator that’s designed to ingest 100 metric tons of moon dirt in an hour. After the helium-3 is extracted, the machine would drop the rest of the dirt back onto…
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