Interlune, a company founded by former Blue Origin executives and an Apollo astronaut, plans to mine helium-3 on the moon and return it to Earth. The company is developing an energy-efficient processor and plans to launch a demonstrator mission in 2026 to sample the lunar regolith, measure the helium-3 quantity, and then attempt to extract some of it. 

Helium-3 is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. It has been accumulating on the lunar surface for billions of years, but has recently become in vogue on Earth, where developers of quantum supercomputers prize it for its ability to be chilled to near absolute zero and act as a coolant for superconductors. 

Other companies that are mining helium-3 from the moon include: Savannah River Site, National Nuclear Security Administration, The Mayak Production Association, and Space Industries

Other space mining companies include:

ispace, Lunar Outpost, Astrobotic Technology, Deep Space Systems (Redwire), Moon Express, Helios, Origin, and AstroForge. 

According to a Quora user, mining the entire surface of the moon would provide enough helium-3 to last for about 200 years. However, some say that it’s not worth mining because there’s no point in harvesting it as a source of energy

Others say that mining helium-3 from the moon is an intriguing prospect with significant implications for energy, manufacturing, and habitation on both the moon and Earth. 

Here are some other insights about helium-3:

• Value According to Gerald Kulcinski, a professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at the University of Wisconsin, helium-3 on the moon is worth $4 billion per ton. 
• Energy production According to Quora, 2.2 pounds (one kilogram) of helium-3 combined with 1.5 pounds (0.67 kilograms) of deuterium produces 19 megawatt-years of energy. 
• Technical challenges According to Cosmos Magazine, helium-3 is one of the many trace elements on the moon, and it’s present in parts per billion. Extracting it would be a technical challenge. 
• Fuel source According to Polytechnique Insights, helium-3 is a non-radioactive isotope that’s an ideal fuel for the operation of a fusion reactor. 

Unlike Earth, which is protected by its magnetic field, the Moon has been bombarded with large quantities of Helium-3 by the solar wind. It is thought that this isotope could provide safer nuclear energy in a fusion reactor, since it is not radioactive and would not produce dangerous waste products

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