Issue 3 of our quarterly newsletter features Rob Meyerson, the former president of Blue Origin and current CEO of Interlune, interviewed by Mike Mahoney, director of space and defense at Teague. Rob’s company Interlune is aiming to be “the first U.S. company to commercialize resources from space,” and is developing technology to extract Helium 3 and other materials from lunar soil.

Mike and Rob discuss the relationship between moon mining and quantum computing, big changes in the space industry, and what keeps Rob motivated and inspired after a 40-year career in space (on Earth).

-----

Mike Mahoney: Let’s get right into it, Rob. What has made helium 3 such a valuable resource that it is now justifiable to mine it from the moon? Can you talk about some of the uses of H3 that are driving this need?

Rob Meyerson: Helium 3 is rare on Earth… it sells for $20 million per kilogram. It has applications in cryogenics research and superconducting quantum computing—it’s used for keeping things extremely cold. It’s also used in border security, as a radiation portal monitor for border crossings. After 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security steered most of the helium 3 in the US stockpile into border security, resulting in a very large shortage, and now it’s rationed by the Department of Energy. It’s hard to get because it is produced on Earth from tritium decay, and that is what has ultimately drove the price up to where it sits today.

Helium 3 is plentiful in space, though, because it’s produced in the Sun’s natural fusion process. Helium 3 and other gases are transported through space via the solar wind, and have been implanting the Moon for billions of years. Now that companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and others are developing systems to get to the Moon, where helium 3 is more abundant, the idea of going to the Moon to harvest it becomes a reality.

You mentioned that helium 3 has applications in quantum computing. Like lunar mining, quantum computing is not a fully realized technology yet, but it’s inching closer. Will quantum computers be coming on line and needing a steady supply of helium 3 right when Interlune is ready to provide it?

Our forecast is that by the end of this decade, everything is going to line up to send industrial machines to the moon, to harvest helium 3 at a moderate industrial scale; providing 20 kilograms of helium 3 per year, which is about 10 times the current global production.

Experts are projecting we could have functional quantum computers in 3 to 7 years. Progress is being made every year.

Our business is dependent on NASA's continued investment in the Artemis Program, building big cargo landers, small landers, lunar rovers, and more. But we think everything's going to line up by 2030.

Just 10 years ago, Interlune’s goal may have been dismissed by most as science-fiction, but now, clearly judging by your grant awards and seed funding, you’re being taken very seriously. What has happened in the space industry to make moon mining remotely realistic?

I would say even five years ago, this idea would have been dismissed out of hand. We would have heard “get out of my office” or “Don't even ask!” What's happened is the acceleration of access to space for commercial companies, and the Artemis program. And then, of course, the market price of helium 3, which isn’t likely to drop. And most importantly, the quality of the Interlune team is what’s making this realistic. We've chosen to build this because of the place we are at in the industry, and I think that story resonates with investors and commercial and government customers.

Photo: Interlune

Paint us a picture of the future when Interlune is on the moon, successful in its mission, mining H3. What else is happening at that time?

The Artemis missions are short duration missions—there's not going to be a long term human presence on the moon during the beginnings of the Artemis program, and I'm talking between now and 2035.

But if you look at the two things side by side, both Artemis and Interlune will need to deploy tens of metric tons of hardware on the lunar surface. The most efficient way to do this is to rely on robots instead of humans and commission the systems autonomously.

So imagine you get a truckload of equipment, and it needs to be unpacked and deployed. The first thing we would do is set up solar panels for power, and a localized positioning and navigation network. We would be using a rover—something like the NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle—to deploy those things. Then we’d set up harvesters and return rockets to complete the system. In a way, we'll be able to operate, at least initially, on our own power. We're assuming that we would basically fully fund an Interlune-centric work area with everything we need. So if there are other businesses that could benefit from working adjacent to us, we would love to work that into the plan.

Now what those use cases are, it's really up to other entrepreneurs to figure out, because right now, we're laser focused on building Interlune. You don't have a lot of extra time in a start up.

One of the elements of design is really to help tell a story in the way your product looks and operates. That says a lot about your company, your attention to detail, the level of care that you put into things.

How do you see Interlune scaling?

We will get started with 5 Harvesters producing 20 kilograms of helium 3 per year.

To scale to hundreds or thousands of kilograms of helium 3 per year, we’d deploy more Harvesters, or move to larger equipment.

You’ve dedicated your career to space, from NASA to Blue Origin. What would you say is the origin of your interest and passion for space? On a personal level, what keeps you motivated to stay in an industry with so many unique challenges and technological barriers?

Well, people like you, Mike! Seriously.

Some days you're beating your head against the wall and some days you're celebrating an orbital rocket getting into space on the first try. Those celebration days are getting closer and closer together.

Having opportunities to work with such cool people, like yourself and the team at Teague, as well as all the folks that we run around with at various events. It really does keep me motivated. You get the space bug and you don't lose that.

You’ve been a longtime friend of Teague, and a champion of the value of design. Now that you’re immersed in “start-up life,” how would you explain the importance of design for companies that are early-stage, like Interlune? Is design an important consideration for companies who don’t even have a product yet, technically?

One of the elements of design is to help tell a story in the way your product looks and operates. That says a lot about your company, your attention to detail, the level of care that you put into things. It says a lot about your brand as well.

Yeah, we pride ourselves on working very collaboratively with engineering teams, and that's an important part of the process—coming to solutions together while while making sure that we're we're thinking about the users, whether that's a technician, or somebody who's assembling, or the end user who might be interacting with the product.

I have one last question before we wrap. Could you share the top 3 things that are inspiring you personally or professionally right now?

1. I love the Acquired podcast, it’s really interesting to me as a start-up founder.
2. SpaceX’s Starship program. Last week’s flight wasn’t a full success, but they caught the booster and reused some parts. You learn a lot from failures, and that accelerates progress.
3. Small, modular nuclear reactors. There’s so much potential there for clean energy.