What's Your Problem? Building a Business on the Moon
May 7, 2026
Rob Meyerson, co-founder and CEO of Interlune and former long-time president of Blue Origin, outlines building a lunar economy. He discusses mining helium-3 from regolith, in-space manufacturing and cryogenic processing, and the tech demos and return systems needed to bring moon-sourced materials back to Earth.
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Reusable Rockets Aren't The Whole Answer
- Reusable rockets lower access cost but aren't enough; true cost reduction comes from making things in space using space resources.
- Interlune's vision is to supply in-space factories with materials like metals, propellant, and helium-3 to create a second flywheel alongside reuse.
Apollo Geologist Became A Co‑Founder
- Harrison Schmidt, the only geologist who walked on the moon, inspired early thinking about lunar helium-3 for fusion and joined Interlune as co-founder.
- In 2016 they discussed helium-3 for fusion, a two-miracle plan that later shifted toward quantum computing demand.
Quantum Computers Create Practical Helium‑3 Demand
- Fusion demand made helium-3's moon-mining case weak, but quantum scaling creates a realistic near-term market.
- A million‑qubit quantum computer could consume as much helium-3 as the U.S. produces in a year.