Gary Lai
Gary Lai is currently Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Interlune and serves as External Advisory Board Member for the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington College of Engineering. He previously held several leadership and technical roles at Blue Origin, including Chief Architect and New Shepard System Architect, and founded Interlune, a startup. His expertise includes space systems development, program management, and business development.
Interlune raises $5M as it holds nearly $500M in government and industry purchase orders for lunar helium-3; extraction not expected until 2030
Seattle startup Interlune raised an additional $5 million to pursue lunar helium-3 mining, while holding nearly $500 million in purchase orders from the US Air Force, DOE, and quantum computing firms; the company says first extraction won't occur before 2030.
Interlune demonstrates Cold Capture to extract 99% pure helium-3 from industrial helium, aims to scale for lunar mining
Seattle startup Interlune says it produced 99% pure helium-3 from industrial-grade helium using a cryogenic distillation process called Cold Capture, a technique it plans to scale for lunar extraction. The company argues helium-3’s rarity and suitability for quantum computing, detectors and future fusion makes lunar-sourced supply potentially profitable, and demonstrated the process at small scale in early 2025.
Interlune unveils Cold Capture to extract 99% pure helium-3 from Grade A helium, backed by U.S. Air Force
Seattle startup Interlune unveiled 'Cold Capture,' a cryogenic system that extracts 99% pure helium-3 from standard Grade A helium to address terrestrial shortages and validate lunar-harvesting tech, developed with U.S. Air Force support.
Organizations
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Interlune Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer 2022–present, Former Chief Architect · current
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University of Washington College of Engineering External Advisory Board Member, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2020–present · current
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Posigrade LLC Strategic Advisor 2024 · past
Education
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University of Washington B.S.E., Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering · 1997–1999
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Cornell University B.S., Applied Economics and Business Management · 1992–1995
