The machines that will extract Helium 3 from the moon

They are imagining giant machines excavating the lunar soil in search of a rare element that can supply the energy future of the Earth, this is already a real plan with a set date, a startup called Interlune with support from NASA and the United States Department of Energy revealed a full-scale prototype of a lunar excavator and the objective is to extract Helium 3.

An extremely valuable isotope, it is something very rare here, but abundant on the lunar surface, the Interlune mission is scheduled for before 2030 and already has a strong ally in this company, the industrial equipment manufacturer Vermeer, which is developing machinery capable of working where conventional engines simply cannot.

The excavator developed was designed for a far from modest task of excavating up to 100 tons of lunar soil per hour. Komatsu, the Japanese giant, is also in the game, revealing its own electric lunar excavator at CS 2025 focusing on extreme thermal control and modularity, but while Komatsu is still in the conceptual phase, Vermeer and Interluna already have a prototype in the testing field.

Different from common excavators here on Earth the lunar model is powered by electricity powered by solar panels and needs to be able to operate in temperatures ranging from + 110º to - 170º, no combustion engine would work there as on the Moon there is simply no oxygen to burn fuel.

This equipment is more than an excavator, it is an extraction, separation and preparation unloading system, all and a single machine, digs the lunar regolith, extracts the helium 3 and prepares the material for its return to Earth, in addition Interlune is creating a complete digital ecosystem with real-time modeling of the lunar environment, allowing fine adjustments and decision making from Earth.

All this with the least possible delay in communication between the two worlds, what is being developed for the moon could in the future revolutionize remote mining on asteroids, moons of Jupiter or Mars, the Interluna excavator is actually the first step for lunar industrialization, Helium 3 is a promising resource for nuclear fusion, manufacturing of semiconductors, optical fibers and superconductors.

Controlling this lunar raw material can represent an unprecedented technological and geopolitical advantage. Whoever dominates this extraction chain will be able to dictate the directions of technology, energy, and even the global economy in the next 50 years, which is why countries like China, Japan, and the United States are intensifying space mining projects.

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