A retired top Air Force general has warned that China is mining a rare and powerful element from the moon that could give them the upper hand in the new space race.
China confirmed its plans to build a nuclear plant on the moon to power the research station it’s ‘dreaming up’ with Russia during an April presentation.
The country aims to become a major space power and land astronauts on the moon by 2030. Its planned Chang’e-8 mission for 2028 would lay the groundwork for constructing a permanent, manned lunar base.
However, Steven Kwast, a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General and the CEO of SpaceBilt, claimed China has already started mining helium-3 from the moon.
Helium-3 is a rare form of the gas helium on Earth, but NASA estimates that a million tons of it is on the moon.
Scientists believe helium-3 could provide nuclear energy in a fusion reactor, but since it is not radioactive, it would not produce dangerous waste.
Kwast warned during a recent episode of the Shawn Ryan Show that if China monopolizes the element, they could have enough power to crack any computer code.
‘If we were to mine the moon for helium-3, at the current level of electricity use… we could power the energy needs of the human race for thousands of years based on the helium-3 that’s on the moon right now,’ Kwast said.
‘Let’s take the scenario where China now has enough helium-3 as they’re mining it on the moon and bringing it back to Earth to be able to power the entire world for thousands of years.
‘They are the ones that can actually operationalize quantum because they can cool it down to the temperature it needs to actually operate.’
Kwast explained that helium-3 can be used to control the quantum cooling needed for advance technology, and whoever controls it will be able to break any code on the planet.
‘When you start combining those three quantum capabilities – sensing, computing, communication – and you can affordably cool it down to the levels where it can be operationalized, now you’ve broken every code that ever was. I don’t care how good your encryption is. They see every secret, every code, everything,’ Kwast said.
‘So there’s an example of why not being in space with logistics and infrastructure to be able to move to see and to operate can make you vulnerable.
‘Space is the place where if America does not change our strategy and how we’re investing in space, we will become victims to others that use space as a way of dominating the energy market but also the information market.’
While there is no proof that China is actively mining helium-3 on the moon, they have expressed interest in lunar resource extraction.
In June 2024, China became the first country to land on the moon’s far side. The Chang’e 6 spacecraft returned with 4.4 pounds of lunar rock samples.
A new space race is warming up after half a century, with Russia, China and America racing to put robots, human astronauts and even lunar trains on the moon.
Rare earth metals – used in smartphones, computers and advanced technologies – are available on the moon, according to research by Boeing.Â
Most plans for moon mining involve robots doing much of the work, overseen by humans either on moon bases or on orbiting space stations.
Seattle startup Interlune recently released a prototype of excavator for harvesting helium-3 from the moon.
The machine is designed to ingest 100 metric tons of moon dirt, or regolith, per hour and return it to the surface in a continuous motion.
‘The high-rate excavation needed to harvest helium-3 from the moon in large quantities has never been attempted before, let alone with high efficiency,’ said Gary Lai, Interlune co-founder and CTO.
