Seattle's Moon Helium-3 Quest Targets a $20 Quadrillion Prize
A Seattle startup, Interlune, aims to mine helium-3 on the moon, a prospect valued at about $20 quadrillion, with experimental digs planned as soon as 2028. The plan involves robotic extraction and deep cryogenic distillation to isolate helium-3 from lunar regolith, then returning it to Earth. Interlune has secured funding and a NASA contract, and seeks Australian collaboration, as other nations like China race to access lunar resources. While skeptics dismiss the idea as “moonshine,” the company argues the economics and partnerships could make lunar helium-3 mining feasible.