Interlune secures $6.9 million NASA contract for lunar resource extraction payload

Interlune has been awarded a $6.9 million NASA SBIR Phase III contract to develop a payload suite for measuring gases in lunar regolith and demonstrating helium-3 extraction technologies. The 18-month project, designed for launch on a commercial CLPS lander in 2028, supports NASA's lunar economy goals.

Interlune has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research Phase III contract with NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate Game Changing Development program for a lunar resource development effort, according to an official announcement. The sole-source firm-fixed-price contract of $6.9 million over 18 months will develop a payload suite to capture on-site measurements of gases in lunar regolith and demonstrate resource extraction technologies for helium-3 and hydrogen.

Interlune is a natural resources company focused on lunar resource harvesting, with nearly $500 million in binding purchase orders for helium-3 from the US Department of Energy and quantum computing companies. The payload, ready for launch in 2028, builds on prior work with NASA's Flight Opportunities program and the National Science Foundation. It includes a robotic arm and scoop, size sorting device, gas extraction devices, multi-spectral camera, and a mass spectrometer based on NASA's MSOLO.

This development matters for the lunar economy, where resource harvesting is integral to creating a long-term, sustainable presence on the Moon. The data collected will inform full-scale helium-3 harvesting system development as well as technologies supporting the Artemis Moon Base. Revenue from selling helium-3 to Earth customers will fund further development of technologies to harvest other lunar natural resources and provide critical infrastructure.

For the space technology industry, the contract advances technologies for measuring volatile gases by heating lunar regolith on the Moon. Stakeholders including NASA, lunar science community, and commercial space companies stand to benefit from improved understanding of solar wind volatile concentrations and Moon mineralogy.