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Interlune wins $6.9M NASA SBIR Phase III contract for lunar regolith payload to extract helium-3 and hydrogen

Seattle-based Interlune received a $6.9 million NASA SBIR Phase III contract to develop and test a payload suite designed to extract and measure helium-3 and hydrogen in lunar regolith. The 18-month Earth testing window feeds a 2028 mission on a commercial robotic lander.

Discovered 2026-05-04T08:03:40.645846-07:00 | 2026-05-04T08:03:40.645846-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • This award advances in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) by targeting both helium-3 and hydrogen extraction from lunar soil, moving from concept to a flight-bound payload scheduled for 2028.
  • It adds to the technology stack for sustained lunar and beyond-Moon missions, complementing prior NASA ISRU progress such as CaRD’s demonstration of oxygen extraction from regolith (source:08f9aadd-ab7c-48fa-ad96-4abdf8ca2f4d).
  • The contract also reinforces the direction of NASA’s commercial lunar delivery cadence under CLPS, including the agency’s plan for increased monthly uncrewed missions (source:4d2cd3df-dd45-4ee4-8a49-f10aca20775c).

Reported By

satelliteprome.com dailygalaxy.com energynews.pro exterrajsc.com spacedaily.com cosmiclog.com
Sources Tracked
12
First Seen
2026-05-04T08:03:40.645846-07:00
Latest Update
2026-05-07T04:07:13.678948-07:00
Coverage
Space

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