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24 min ago 2 min read
US natural resources company Interlune has won a $6.9m contract to develop and test a payload suite to measure gases in lunar soil and demonstrate early-stage extraction technologies for helium-3 and hydrogen.
Interlune’s Chief Scientist, Dr Elizabeth Frank, said the work, which will be carried out over 18 months, will mark the first time the company will measure volatile gases by heating lunar regolith while on the Moon.
The effort builds on prior work with NASA’s Flight Opportunities programme and the National Science Foundation (NSF), in which Interlune built and tested payload prototypes on parabolic aircraft flights simulating lunar gravity.
Under the Phase III contract, Interlune will design, build, and test engineering development units (EDUs) and flight hardware for the mission.
The findings will inform and support Interlune’s longer-term plans to develop a commercial helium-3 soil harvesting system, as part of its broader initiative to commercialise the natural resources in space.
Dr Frank added that the data collected will also help determine how much power is needed to extract resources like helium-3.
Interlune is working with industrial equipment manufacturer Vermeer to create what is likely to be a , which will process up to 100 tonnes of lunar regolith per hour before separating the gases and isolating helium-3.
Once developed, the technology is expected to excavate the top few metres of the moon’s surface, after which the material will be sorted and heated to 700°C to 900°C to release the embedded gases.
These are then separated using cryogenic or pressure-swing adsorption techniques to isolate helium-3.
NASA aims to launch the Interlune payload in 2028.
Interlune has nearly $500m in binding purchase orders for helium-3, including from the US Department of Energy and from quantum computing companies.
Helium-3 has applications in semiconductor development, clean energy, national security, and medical imaging.
Government and industry have been seeking a new and scalable source of the rare isotope since the US government identified a severe shortage around 2010.
