Lunar Helium-3 Mining Feasibility Report Published: China-India Joint Team Estimates Commercial Mining Achievable by 2035

The Moon's Energy Treasure Trove Is Becoming Reachable

On July 1, 2029, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and India's Space Research Organisation (ISRO) jointly published a 180-page lunar helium-3 mining feasibility report in Nature Energy. The report estimates the Moon's regolith contains approximately 1.1 million tons of helium-3 — an isotope extremely rare on Earth but an ideal fusion fuel with a theoretical energy density one million times that of coal.

Helium-3 fusion's advantage is minimal neutron radiation; the reaction produces mainly protons and helium-4, requiring no heavy radiation shielding. The report estimates 25 tons of helium-3 could meet America's annual electricity demand, while the lunar reserve could supply the entire world for over 10,000 years.

"Helium-3 fusion has been considered the holy grail of energy," said report co-lead scientist and CAS academician Li Ming. "For decades it's been a theoretical concept. This report pushes it to the engineering feasibility assessment stage for the first time."

The report analyzes three mining approaches in detail. The most viable is "thermal extraction" — using microwaves to heat lunar regolith to 700°C to release helium-3 gas for collection. The estimated cost is approximately $2,000 per kilogram (including transport), while the energy value of the fusion fuel is about $30 billion per kilogram.

The proposed roadmap: detailed polar resource surveys by 2030, small-scale extraction test deployment by 2032, and a 1-ton annual capacity demonstration factory by 2035. China and India have announced a joint $12 billion investment for the project's first phase.

The international fusion community remains cautious. IAEA fusion research head Yukiya Amano noted: "No commercial fusion power plant operates on Earth yet. Before discussing lunar fusion fuel mining, we need to prove fusion power generation itself is feasible."

The report's response: lunar resource exploration and fusion technology development should proceed in parallel. "If we wait until fusion plants are built to find fuel, we'll wait another 20 years," said ISRO vice chairman Pallava Bagla.