US startup unveils helium-3 harvestor prototype for moon-mining machine

Interlune has unveiled helium-3 harvestor prototype for a novel moon-mining machine.

"When you're operating equipment on the moon, reliability and performance standards are at a new level," Rob Meyerson, co-founder and CEO of the Seattle-based startup Interlune said, reported Space.com.

The machine has been designed to churn up 110 tonnes (100 metric tonnes) of lunar dirt, or regolith, per hour to harvest helium-3, which is a potential fuel source for future fusion reactors. 

Moreover, helium-3 is rare on Earth but is thought to be plentiful on the moon.

"The high-rate excavation needed to harvest helium-3 from the moon in large quantities has never been attempted before, let alone with high efficiency," Gary Lai, Interlune co-founder and chief technology officer, said.

A unique partnership between Interlune and Vermeer, a 70-year-old agriculture and industrial equipment manufacturer, was fostered by building the prototype.

"We've been very pleased with the results of the test programme to date and look forward to the next phase of development," Lai added.

Excavation is the first step in a planned four-step system to harvest natural resources from space: excavate, sort, extract and separate, the Interlune said.

After successfully testing a smaller version of the machine last year, the startup went forward with building the full-scale prototype.

As a potential game-changing fuel source that could be used in a range of industries in the future, helium-3 — and getting it from the moon to Earth — has been a hot topic for years.

Additionally, there have been American, Chinese, and Japanese efforts centered around mining the rare helium isotope.