Interlune Produces 99% Pure Helium-3 from Domestic Helium Using Cold Capture Cryogenic Technology

Interlune, a Seattle-based space infrastructure and resources company, announced on July 20, 2026, that its Cold Capture technology has demonstrated production of 99% pure helium-3 from domestic Grade A helium. Developed with support from the U.S. Air Force through an AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research Direct-to-Phase II contract awarded in November 2025, the novel cryogenic system could triple the current U.S. supply of this critical isotope used to cool superconducting quantum computers. Helium-3 remains strategically important for national defense and advanced computing yet is extremely rare on Earth.

Cryogenic Distillation Separates Helium Isotopes

Interlune developed Cold Capture at its Seattle headquarters. The system employs cryogenic distillation to separate helium-3 from ordinary helium-4 at temperatures approaching absolute zero. Helium-3 and helium-4 are nearly chemically identical, rendering conventional separation methods ineffective. Cold Capture exploits subtle physical differences between the two isotopes under extreme cryogenic conditions to produce a high-purity product stream suitable for commercial use.

In 2025 the United States produced approximately 81 billion liters of gaseous and Grade A helium across multiple plants. If Cold Capture were deployed at those facilities, the technology could recover up to 2.5 kilograms of helium-3 per year. That volume would approximately triple existing domestic production of the isotope. The Air Force applies helium-3 in research and development programs involving superconducting quantum computers that require dilution refrigerators to reach temperatures within a few millikelvin of absolute zero.

“Capturing helium-3 from existing helium sounds deceptively simple,” said Gary Lai, chief technology officer at Interlune. “But helium-3 and ordinary helium are almost chemically identical, making them extraordinarily difficult to separate. Cold Capture exploits subtle physical differences between the two isotopes at cryogenic temperatures to recover helium-3 in a process designed to scale.” Rob Meyerson, co-founder and CEO, noted that every liter of helium produced worldwide contains trace amounts of helium-3 and that Cold Capture integrates into existing helium liquefaction plant infrastructure to recover it as a valuable product.

Commercial Demand and Lunar Validation

Commercial demand for helium-3 continues to rise as superconducting quantum computing platforms rely on dilution refrigerators that use mixtures of helium-3 and helium-4. Current terrestrial production depends primarily on the radioactive decay of tritium from aging nuclear stockpiles. Those stockpiles are finite, and expanding tritium production remains capital-intensive, limiting the ability to scale supply quickly enough to meet projected growth in quantum computing and other applications.

In addition to the AFWERX funding, Interlune has secured nearly $500 million in legally binding helium-3 purchase agreements, primarily from quantum refrigeration companies Maybell Quantum and Bluefors. The company has also raised $23 million in venture capital and secured approximately $18 million in non-dilutive funding from the U.S. government and other sources. Because Cold Capture connects to liquefaction plants that aggregate helium from multiple sources, it can capture substantially more helium-3 than any single terrestrial gas field could yield.

While the technology addresses today’s helium-3 shortage for quantum cryogenics, it also validates core separation principles required for Interlune’s longer-term objective of harvesting industrial quantities of helium-3 from lunar regolith. The same cryogenic methods demonstrated on Earth are intended to enable future space-based production supporting advanced computing, scientific research, and sustained human presence beyond Earth.

Bottom Line

Interlune’s Cold Capture technology offers a scalable domestic source of helium-3 for quantum computing while advancing methods for eventual lunar resource extraction.

Find out more here.

—

Further articles, reports, and the latest quantum computing news may be found at The Qubit Report.