Helium-3: From Concept to Credible Markets

Interlune’s prototype of a moon mining rig to extract helium-3 from lunar regolith.
Credit: Interlune

Separating promise from product in lunar He-3

Helium-3 has long been a lightning rod—invoked as a ticket to fusion futures or dismissed as science fiction. A commercially credible path sits between hype and dismissal. In the near term, helium-3 looks less like a standalone commodity and more like a by-product recovered during broader volatile extraction. That changes the risk profile: instead of betting an entire company on uncertain demand, operators fold recovery hardware into existing processing lines and monetise modest volumes through research and specialty applications.

The business model in such instances potentially resembles a licensing and qualification venture, not a mining giant. Intellectual property—capture, separation, and storage methods under lunar conditions—becomes saleable to partners. Revenue arrives through pilot programmes with materials labs and energy companies investigating neutron-lean reactions, medical imaging, or detector technologies. This mirrors Clayton Christensen’s disruptive innovation commercialisation pattern: start with niche jobs-to-be-done that tolerate limited supply and high assurance demands; learn in production; and only expand when pull from credible downstream users materialises.

Narratively, the go-to-market tone should be cautious and engineering-led. In this respect, space-tech firms such as Interlune have been developing relevant prototypes to exploit helium-3 from lunar regolith, for future markets. In theory, prospects care about purity, chain of custody, and stability over long shipments, not grand claims. Partnerships with station operators and surface logistics providers give access to infrastructure without swelling balance sheets. Milestones are practical: grams recovered per cycle, contamination profiles, and transport protocols that survive harsh thermal swings. In other words, progress is measured by repeatability and customer validation, not headlines—exactly the mode that attracts durable capital.