The New Moon Race: Why Now?

Activity and investment around Moon missions have reached a level never seen before, with the return of humans just around the corner.

Four countries have launched robotic landers in the last 12 months. India was the first with its Chandrayaan-3 landing on the lunar south pole last August. U.S. companies Astrobotics and Intuitive Machines, both part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative, launched in January and February, respectively. Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus spacecraft is the first commercial vehicle to land on the Moon. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s SLIM lander also touched down last January. Just last month, China’s Chang’e-6 probe set down on the far side of the Moon to collect samples and successfully returned them to Earth.

Between now and 2026, at least a dozen additional Moon missions are planned. And yet, many are asking, “Why the Moon? And why now?” This question is of particular interest to us because the answer also applies to “Why Interlune?”

Disparate events that have been unfolding for years are now converging to create the modern Moon race, which will certainly change the course of history and life as we know it. As we see it, there are four major driving factors:

1. Reliable, low-cost launch

SpaceX has now proven that space launch can be low-cost and reliable. And many other launch providers are entering the game with new launch capabilities, like United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and venture-backed companies like ABL, Relativity Space, Firefly, and Stoke Space.

We can put satellites and scientific experiments into orbit at a fraction of the price compared to just a few short years ago, and we expect the price to continue to come down with the introduction of Starship, a transformational new capability. Interlune is just one example of a business venture made viable by the accessibility of space launch. The equipment we’re developing to harvest Helium-3 from the Moon is small and light enough to be transported in a single Starship landing. 

By the end of this decade, Interlune and others will be able to rely on competing sources for transportation, mobility, and infrastructure between Earth and the Moon, and we will put that ecosystem to work.

2. Diverse sources of capital 

The Apollo-era missions were driven exclusively by government investment for a discrete milestone: being the first to land humans on the Moon. Today’s Moon program relies on diverse funding sources, government and commercial players entering into public-private partnerships, resulting in faster innovation and a long-term focus.

Our modern approach to going back to the Moon will drive more than $37 billion in investment into international lunar exploration by 2031, which is spread out among many countries and companies, ranging from startups to large established companies.

The success of space launch pioneers like SpaceX and Blue Origin not only demonstrated to investors what is possible, they trained thousands of talented engineers and entrepreneurs, many of whom went on to start their own space companies. 

These offshoots benefitted from high liquidity, low-interest rate markets into which venture capital, private equity, and public-company investors poured billions. In return, they delivered innovations that are serving to build a more diverse industrial base in the U.S. and abroad. 

Money is a bit tighter now, but companies with solid business cases are still being funded. Last March, Interlune raised an additional $15 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm Seven Seven Six.

3. Rising global tensions

Heightened geopolitical tension creates the need for countries to compete. U.S.-China relations have been rocky for decades. China is publicly and aggressively pursuing a permanent Moon base, including collaborating with Russia to build an International Lunar Research Station.

This situation puts pressure on the United States and its allies to keep up and continue to fund Artemis. We’re already experiencing the consequences of falling behind in hypersonics and chip manufacturing, and shouldn’t allow the same thing to happen in space.

For the Moon specifically, its resources are so valuable and pivotal to life on Earth that it’s crucial to future generations that the United States have access to them and play a significant role in determining how they’re obtained and used.

4. Demand for natural resources 

Speaking of lunar resources, we need them, and we need them soon. According to a UN's International Resource Panel report, global consumption of natural resources on Earth is predicted to increase by 60 percent by 2060. “Increasing demand for resources is due to urbanization, industrialization and a growing population, which is leading to severe consequences such as biodiversity loss, water stress, climate change and air pollution,” the World Economic Forum recently stated.

Responsibly harvesting natural resources from the Moon and eventually elsewhere in space is essential to creating a sustainable future for humanity on Earth.

Interlune is starting with Helium-3 because it’s rare on Earth and there’s demand for it today at a price that makes transporting it back to Earth worthwhile. Ample Helium-3 will help realize the “transformative and fundamental scientific discoveries” of quantum computing, which the U.S. government is funding at historic levels. Helium-3 has many other uses, including the development of clean energy using nuclear fusion, which could single-handedly address climate change and power the entire planet for millennia.

‘The progress of all people’

In so many ways, today’s race to the Moon is different from when we prevailed in the Cold War competition, but the spirit that drives us is the same.

“We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people,” President John F. Kennedy said in his September 1962 clarion call that first set those historic achievements in motion. 

This quote reflects our company philosophy at Interlune. The Moon is for all of us; we truly believe that. Interlune will play a leading role in establishing a sustainable, long-term presence there, applying all of the lessons learned from the past but realizing a future that successive generations can build upon.

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