Interlune, Lunar Helium-3 and the Alternatives: Who Is Trying to Fix the Fridge Problem
The headline deal
On September 16, 2025, Bluefors, the Finnish maker of cryogenic systems for quantum technology, announced an agreement to purchase up to 10,000 liters of helium-3 per year from Interlune, a Seattle space resource company, for delivery from 2028 to 2037. Bluefors's founder and interim CEO Rob Blaauwgeers said Interlune would provide "the huge amounts of helium-3 that the quantum industry needs in the coming years."
Read the wording carefully. The deal says "up to." The Quantum Insider's coverage points out that this sets a ceiling, not a guaranteed volume. Pricing and contract value were not disclosed in the sources we read, and most claims about Interlune's equipment and mission schedule come from Interlune's own release. Interlune itself describes its Earth-based separation from terrestrial gas as an interim source before lunar operations.
The US government as a customer
Secondary reporting says the DOE Isotope Program agreed to buy three liters of helium-3 harvested from the Moon, at approximately today's commercial market price, with delivery no later than April 2029. We could only reach that report through a trade-press summary, not a primary DOE page, so verify it before citing. If accurate, three liters is a tiny quantity, a proof of concept, not a supply fix.
Separately, Interlune announced on October 3, 2024 a 365,000 dollar DOE grant to develop technology to separate helium-3 from existing domestic helium supplies, working with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on magnetocaloric liquefaction. Interlune's release states that tritium decay is the only substantial terrestrial source and that it cannot scale to meet growing demand. Again, that is the company's framing.
What is the timeline, realistically?
A 2026 analyst article reports that Interlune targets a 2027 extraction demonstration and a pilot plant by 2029, and itself expects no commercial volumes before the early 2030s. That is one analyst's judgement, but it is a useful reminder: space mining schedules slip, and the Bluefors delivery window starts in 2028. Nobody can honestly say yet whether lunar helium-3 will arrive on time, or at what cost per liter.
Fridges that need less helium-3
The same analyst article lists several routes, with the caveat that the real gap is cooling power under real wiring loads, not just base temperature:
- Adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration (ADR). It cools with magnetic materials and no helium-3. The article reports kiutra's SPROUT system, published in Review of Scientific Instruments in early 2026, ran continuously below 30 millikelvin with wiring enough for a five-qubit processor. It also reports a larger X-Type system announced April 2026, specified at 20 microwatts of cooling at 20 millikelvin, with first customer deployments in 2027. Those are specifications and plans, not field results.
- Lean dilution designs. The article says Maybell Quantum markets reduced-charge dilution systems that cut helium-3 per machine, and notes Bluefors systems that use helium-4 only for higher-temperature stages.
- Recycling and tight handling. The article describes closed-loop recovery as the lever with the most immediate payback.
- Hotter qubits. Silicon spin qubits may run at higher temperatures. The article cites Diraq reporting 98.92 percent two-qubit fidelity above 1 kelvin. See silicon spin qubits and the spin comparison.
Who is who among fridge makers?
Bluefors reports more than 1,500 dilution refrigerators installed, and Interlune's CEO says a majority of the quantum industry relies on Bluefors systems. Those are company statements. Market research reports we found put the combined share of Bluefors and Oxford Instruments anywhere from about 40 percent to over 70 percent, with no stated methods or dates, so we treat market share as unknown. Delivery lead times by vendor are likewise not published in any source we could read.
Why this is encouraging
Look at the shape of it. A bottleneck was spotted early, money and engineering talent are now flowing at it from several directions at once, and demand from a young industry is a reason for suppliers to invest. Whether the Moon delivers or magnets win, the fridge problem is being attacked. For the wider cryogenics picture see Bluefors and quantum cryogenics, and for the demand side see the helium-3 supply guide.
Not financial advice. Interlune and Bluefors are private companies, nothing here is a view on any asset, and the QNT memecoin is independent of Quantinuum Ltd and of every company named here.
Sources and further reading
- Bluefors: sourcing helium-3 from the Moon with Interlune (September 16, 2025)
- The Quantum Insider: Bluefors lunar helium-3 deal
- Interlune: DOE grant to increase domestic helium-3 supply (October 3, 2024)
- Manufacturing.net: DOE buys helium-3 harvested from the Moon
- PostQuantum.com: helium-3 alternatives (analyst article, 2026)
Reported as of 2026-10-09. Supply deals, prices and rules change often, so check the primary documents. Nothing here is financial advice. The QNT memecoin is independent of Quantinuum Ltd, the real company, and of every supplier, lab and government named on this page.
Frequently asked questions
What did Bluefors agree with Interlune?
Bluefors reported on September 16, 2025 that it would buy up to 10,000 liters of helium-3 per year from Interlune for delivery from 2028 to 2037. The wording is 'up to', so it is a ceiling, not a guaranteed volume.
Is lunar helium-3 available yet?
No. Interlune's lunar harvesting is planned, not proven. One analyst article expects no commercial volumes before the early 2030s.
Can quantum computers be cooled without helium-3?
Research systems using magnetic (ADR) cooling are being developed and some specifications are published, but sources say the gap is cooling power with real wiring loads, and first customer deployments of one such system are reported for 2027.
Keep reading
- Helium-3 and Dilution Refrigerators: The Rare Gas Behind Superconducting Qubits
Why many quantum computers need helium-3, where the world's supply comes from, and what is and is not known about prices. - Bluefors and Quantum Cryogenics: Building the Coldest Rooms on Earth
Why quantum computers need dilution refrigerators, what Bluefors' KIDE platform is, and why cooling is a scaling challenge. - How Are Quantum Computers Cooled?
Why do some quantum computers sit in huge fridges near absolute zero? A plain English guide to dilution refrigerators, noise and which qubits need cooling.
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