Secretive moon startup led by ex-Blue Origin leaders raises new tranche of funding
A stealth startup led by ex-Blue Origin leaders, focused connected harvesting resources from the moon, has softly closed a sizable caller tranche of funding, according to regulatory documents.
Interlune, a startup that’s been astir for astatine slightest 3 years but has made astir zero nationalist announcements astir its tech, has raised $15.5 cardinal successful caller backing and aims to adjacent different $2 million. A typical for Interlune declined to remark connected this story.
This is the archetypal nationalist denotation that the institution has closed immoderate backing since a $1.85 cardinal effect circular successful 2022.
Much of what’s known astir the startup was reported by GeekWire past October, erstwhile Interlune CTO Gary Lai concisely described the startup during a code astatine Seattle’s Museum of Flight: “We purpose to beryllium the archetypal institution that harvests earthy resources from the satellite to usage present connected Earth,” helium reportedly said. “We’re gathering a wholly caller attack to extract those resources, efficiently, cost-effectively and besides responsibly. The extremity is truly to make a sustainable in-space economy.”
Lai is an aerospace technologist whose resume includes a 20-year stint astatine Blue Origin, wherever helium yet became main designer for abstraction proscription systems, including launchers and lunar landers. Interlune is being led by Rob Meyerson, an aerospace enforcement who was president astatine Blue Origin for 15 years. Meyerson is besides a prolific angel investor, with investments successful well-known hardware startups including Axiom Space, Starfish Space, Hermeus, and Hadrian Automation.
The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission besides lists lawyer H. Indra Hornsby arsenic a institution executive. Hornsby antecedently held the presumption of General Counsel astatine BlackSky and Spaceflight Industries, and besides worked arsenic an enforcement VP astatine Rocket Lab.
What small other is known of Interlune’s tech comes from an abstract of a tiny SBIR the startup was awarded past twelvemonth from the National Science Foundation. Under that award, the institution said it volition purpose to “develop a halfway enabling exertion for lunar successful situ assets utilization: the quality to benignant ‘moon dirt’ (lunar regolith) by particle size.”
“By enabling earthy lunar regolith to beryllium sorted into aggregate streams by particle size, the exertion volition supply due feedstocks for lunar oxygen extraction systems, lunar 3-dimensional printers, and different applications,” the abstract says.
A increasing fig of abstraction startups are focusing connected what’s known arsenic in-situ assets utilization (ISRU), oregon collecting ...
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7moWe need more trees, less concrete and air-conditioners :) So easy yet somehow so hard. Also sea-life is affected a lot from higher temperatures that whole ecosystem changes, so sad to witness