The company's founders include former Blue Origin employees and an Apollo 17 astronaut.
Interlune plans to become the first company to mine natural resources on the Moon and sell them back to Earth. The startup will initially focus on Helium-3, an isotope of helium that is formed by nuclear fusion in the Sun.
In an interview with Ars Technica, Interlune co-founder and former Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson said the company hopes to launch its facility on one of NASA's future commercial missions to the Moon. In plans, this should take place already in 2028, and full-fledged work will start by 2030.
Interlune announced this week that it has raised $18 million, including $15 million in its latest round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm started by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
Helium-3, the resource Interlune is targeting, could be used on Earth for quantum computing, medical imaging, and potentially as fuel for fusion reactors. Helium-3 is carried to the Moon by the solar wind, while the Earth's magnetosphere deflects this flow of particles. On our planet, it exists in very limited quantities (as a result of nuclear weapons tests, nuclear reactors and radioactive decay), and the cost per liter reaches several thousand dollars.
Interlune is also planning a mission with a separate module that will assess helium-3 concentrations at selected sites.
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