Helium 3 is a nuclear energy byproduct.

It's useful for cryogenics, medical equipment, and quantum computing.

It's exceedingly scarce, and that means a hefty price tag.

$20 million per kilogram.

Moon mining startup Interloon plans to extract it from the lunar surface.

CEO and co-founder Rob Meyerson, who previously ran Jeff Bezos company Blue Origin,

says Interloon just signed its first customers.

Among them, the U.S. Department of Energy, which has purchased three liters of lunar extracted

helium-3 for delivery by 2029.

It's extremely rare on Earth because its source on Earth is from the decay of Tridium.

And Tritium itself is very rare.

But it's plentiple in space.

It's produced naturally in the sun.

And the sun is a fusion reactor.

And that helium-3 has been transported through space via the solar wind.

And it's been bombarding the surface of the moon for billions of years.

So we know there's a lot of helium three out there in space,

and we're taking advantage of all of the progress being made in space

to build new rockets, landers, and rovers on the moon to go get it.

On this episode, the massive opportunity in moon mining and why helium-3 holds the key.

I'm Morgan Brennan, and this is Manifest Space.

Joining me now, Rob Meyerson, the CEO and co-founder of Interloon.

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