---
type: source
title: "Kiutra LEMON Project: Sub-30mK Continuous ADR Achieved, EU-Funded €3.97M Through August 2027"
author: "Kiutra GmbH (kiutra.com/projects/large-scale-magnetic-cooling)"
url: https://kiutra.com/projects/large-scale-magnetic-cooling/
date: 2026-02-01
domain: space-development
secondary_domains: []
format: company-research-page
status: processed
priority: high
tags: [helium-3, ADR, cADR, quantum-computing, cryogenics, he3-alternatives, kiutra, LEMON, cislunar-resources]
---

## Content

**Project name:** LEMON (Large-scale Magnetic Cooling)
**Organization:** Kiutra GmbH (Munich) — the only company worldwide offering continuous ADR (cADR) commercially
**Funding:** €3.97 million, EU EIC Pathfinder Challenge (clean and efficient cooling)
**Duration:** September 1, 2024 – August 31, 2027

**Key milestone:** **Sub-30 mK temperatures achieved continuously with ADR for the first time** — announced at APS Global Physics Summit, March 2025. This is Kiutra's most significant temperature achievement and represents a breakthrough for helium-3-free continuous cooling.

**Project goals:**
- Develop scalable, helium-3-free cryogenic cooling capable of reaching millikelvin temperatures
- Push limits of continuous ADR (cADR) — Kiutra's core technology
- Address growing cooling demands of quantum technologies, particularly quantum computing
- Build world's first large-scale, highly modularized magnetic cooling system for full-stack quantum computers

**Technical focus areas (Work Packages):**
- WP1: Component development — mechanical and superconducting heat switches, magnet design, cooling media
- WP2: Full demonstrator system design using validated component data
- Exploration of novel refrigerants for lower temperatures

**Temperature context for commercial products (separate from LEMON research):**
- Kiutra commercial cADR systems: continuous cooling at 300 mK, one-shot to 100 mK
- Kiutra L-Type Rapid: continuous at 300 mK, one-shot to 100 mK
- LEMON research milestone: sub-30 mK continuous (March 2025 APS presentation)
- Gap to superconducting qubit requirement: 10-25 mK; LEMON at ~30 mK is approaching this range

**February 2026 status (per Quantum Insider guest post):**
- Team making "measurable progress toward lower base temperatures through improvements in refrigerant packages, thermal interfaces, and thermal switches"
- Project is in active development toward the August 2027 completion

**Strategic significance:**
Kiutra is European (Munich), EU-funded, and NOT focused on China's strategic interests. This is an independent Western research program reaching the same temperature frontier as the Chinese KYb3F10 JACS paper (July 2025, 27.2 mK). Two independent programs converging on sub-30 mK is stronger evidence than either alone.

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** The LEMON project is the primary evidence for a plausible 5-8 year path to commercial He-3-free systems at qubit temperatures. Project completes August 2027. If it reaches 10-20 mK, commercial products could emerge 2028-2030 — overlapping with Interlune's delivery window. This is what makes the He-3 substitution risk real and near-term rather than theoretical and distant.

**What surprised me:** Sub-30 mK was achieved in March 2025 — this was already a milestone before the JACS KYb3F10 paper (July 2025) confirmed a similar achievement via a different method. Two independent research programs hitting sub-30 mK within 4 months of each other suggests this is a real convergent frontier, not an isolated anomaly.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Exact temperature achieved (sub-30 mK is a floor statement; actual could be 28 mK or 15 mK). Cooling power at sub-30 mK (critical for scaling to data-center systems). Timeline for commercial product based on LEMON results.

**KB connections:**
- Pattern 4 (He-3 demand temporal bound): LEMON project could produce commercial He-3-free alternatives at qubit temperatures by 2028-2030
- space governance gaps are widening not narrowing: Technology is outrunning assumptions embedded in existing He-3 contracts
- Interlune Bluefors contract (2028-2037): overlaps with when He-3-free alternatives might emerge commercially

**Extraction hints:**
- **Primary claim candidate:** "Kiutra's LEMON project achieved sub-30 mK continuous ADR in March 2025 — a research milestone that, combined with EU funding through August 2027, establishes a plausible path to commercial He-3-free systems at superconducting qubit temperatures (10-25 mK) by 2028-2030, overlapping with Interlune's 2029-2035 delivery window"
- **Scope qualifier:** Research milestone only; commercial deployability at qubit temperatures undemonstrated
- **Critical uncertainty:** Whether sub-30 mK (LEMON) → 10-15 mK (qubit range) is achievable within LEMON timeline or requires additional programs
- Note: This source should be read alongside JACS KYb3F10 paper (July 2025) — two independent programs confirming sub-30 mK is achievable

## Curator Notes
PRIMARY CONNECTION: Pattern 4 (He-3 temporal demand bound) — specifically the question "when could He-3-free alternatives reach qubit temperatures commercially?"
WHY ARCHIVED: Kiutra's LEMON project is the most credible near-term path to commercial He-3-free systems at qubit temperatures; timeline (through August 2027) and funding level (€3.97M EU) make this a serious research program, not a speculative roadmap
EXTRACTION HINT: Focus on the substitution timeline: research at ~30 mK (March 2025) → LEMON completion August 2027 → commercial products 2028-2030? If correct, He-3 substitution risk overlaps with Interlune's delivery window, not safely after it.
