Vermeer Corporation is excited for the long-range vision of Interlune as part of a partnership that aims to implement local yellow iron machines and technologies on the lunar surface.

Harrison “Jack” Schmitt is the first scientist and twelfth and last person to step on the Moon, and he’s been excited to see what Vermeer offers in terms of innovation, especially as it relates to Helium-3. He sees the harvesting of the element as a key to the future in terms of technological advancement and a potential space economy. Helium-3, a stable isotope of helium, is extremely scarce on Earth but abundant on the Moon. Government and industry have been looking for a new and scalable source of helium-3 since the U.S. government identified a severe shortage around 2010

“I think we’re work on a business case here, but on a national security case, so it’s very important that we be successful,” he says. “As far as I know, nobody is thinking that way in the commercial sector. I know that NASA is concerned and the President is concerned about this competition, but nonetheless, we have I think mobilized the same enthusiasm among our team as we had with Apollo.”

Interlune is working to develop the technology, with the help of Vermeer’s engineers, to fully automate remote harvesting capabilities that can both survive the lunar surface, but also be feasible to send via rockets currently available. Excavation is the first in a four-step proprietary system to harvest natural resources from space: Excavate, Sort, Extract, and Separate. The Interlune excavator operates continuously and its design reduces tractive force, power consumption, and dust compared to traditional trench-digging techniques. Interlune and Vermeer built the full-size prototype after successfully developing and testing a sub-scale version in the summer of 2024.

Hear more about the Vermeer partnership on part two of a multi-part series on Let’s Talk Pella today.