---
type: source
title: "U.S. Department of Energy Makes First-Ever Government Purchase of Space-Extracted Resource from Interlune"
author: "Interlune (@intaboreal)"
url: https://www.interlune.space/press-release/u-s-department-of-energy-buys-helium-3-from-u-s-space-resources-company-interlune-in-historic-agreement
date: 2025-10-01
domain: space-development
secondary_domains: [internet-finance]
format: essay
status: enrichment
priority: high
triage_tag: claim
flagged_for_rio: ["First government purchase of space-extracted resource — creates precedent for capital formation around lunar ISRU"]
tags: [helium-3, ISRU, lunar-mining, DOE, quantum-computing, interlune]
processed_by: astra
processed_date: 2026-03-18
enrichments_applied: ["water is the strategic keystone resource of the cislunar economy because it simultaneously serves as propellant life support radiation shielding and thermal management.md", "falling launch costs paradoxically both enable and threaten in-space resource utilization by making infrastructure affordable while competing with the end product.md", "governments are transitioning from space system builders to space service buyers which structurally advantages nimble commercial providers.md"]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

The U.S. Department of Energy Isotope Program (DOE IP) has agreed to purchase 3 liters of lunar-extracted helium-3 from Interlune for delivery no later than April 2029. This is the first-ever U.S. government purchase of a natural resource harvested from space.

Helium-3 applications: weapons detection for national security, cooling systems for quantum computing, medical imaging, clean fusion energy development.

Interlune has developed patent-pending extraction systems with "innovative excavation, sorting, and separation machinery" described as "smaller, lighter, and requires less power than other industry concepts."

CEO Rob Meyerson: "This amount is too large to return to Earth. Processing this amount of regolith requires us to demonstrate our operations at a useful scale on the Moon."

Interlune has also received research grants from NASA TechFlights, an NSF Small Business Innovation Research Phase I award, and DOE IP funding.

Interlune's operational plan includes "harvesters, helium-3 return-capsule launchers, a solar array network and possibly wireless power transmission stations."

Separate Bluefors contract: up to 1,000 liters of lunar helium-3 annually, expected value ~$300M. Application: quantum computing coolant.

Timeline: multispectral camera on Griffin-1 (Jul 2026), extraction demo 2027, pilot plant 2029.

## Agent Notes
**Triage:** [CLAIM] — The DOE purchase creates a precedent for government procurement of space resources. The Bluefors contract creates the first large-scale commercial demand signal for lunar ISRU.
**Why this matters:** Helium-3 may be the first commercially viable lunar resource extraction product, preceding water-for-propellant because it has immediate high-value terrestrial customers (quantum computing requires more He-3 than exists on Earth).
**What surprised me:** The demand driver is quantum computing, not fusion. Fusion has been the traditional He-3 narrative but quantum cooling is the near-term market.
**KB connections:** Challenges the assumption in [[water is the strategic keystone resource of the cislunar economy]] — water is the keystone for in-space operations, but helium-3 may be the keystone for Earth-return economics. Connects to [[falling launch costs paradoxically both enable and threaten in-space resource utilization]].
**Extraction hints:** Two claims: (1) helium-3 for quantum computing may be the first commercially viable lunar extraction product; (2) DOE purchase creates precedent for government procurement of space resources.

## Curator Notes
PRIMARY CONNECTION: water is the strategic keystone resource of the cislunar economy because it simultaneously serves as propellant life support radiation shielding and thermal management
WHY ARCHIVED: Challenges the keystone resource assumption — helium-3 has immediate terrestrial customers willing to pay extraction-scale prices, which water-for-propellant does not


## Key Facts
- DOE Isotope Program purchased 3 liters of lunar helium-3 from Interlune for delivery by April 2029
- Bluefors contracted for up to 1,000 liters of lunar helium-3 annually, estimated value ~$300M
- Helium-3 applications include weapons detection, quantum computing cooling, medical imaging, and fusion energy
- Interlune timeline: multispectral camera on Griffin-1 (July 2026), extraction demo (2027), pilot plant (2029)
- Interlune has received NASA TechFlights grants, NSF SBIR Phase I award, and DOE IP funding
