Space Energy Has Arrived—Will America Lead?

By Lance Bush, Space Advocate, Advisor, and CGCI, Council Member

Recently, Bluefors—a Finnish company specializing in cryogenic cooling systems for quantum technology—signed a $300 million agreement to secure a supply of lunar Helium-3. Helium-3 is a rare, stable isotope with exceptional value for quantum research and promising potential as a fuel for clean nuclear fusion. While Helium-3 is extremely scarce on Earth, it is far more abundant on the Moon. Beginning in 2028 and running through 2037, this contract marks a historic shift: the delivery of a substance mined from the Moon to support advanced industries back on Earth.

Does this signal that the space energy market is here?

The answer is clear when companies like Bluefors—already a global leader in quantum cooling—are willing to commit such a significant investment. Their multi-year agreement reflects a surge of commercial confidence and signals broad recognition of the strategic value of space resources. This is far more than a technological milestone; it marks a pivotal moment in the global race to secure critical material for quantum computing and national security.

Quantum computing, advanced data centers, and the next generation of high-performance industries will require massive energy for cooling—and lunar Helium-3 could meet that need. Interlune, led by several key figures who previously held roles at Blue Origin, has identified Helium-3 as the first space resource truly worth mining. To put this into perspective, Helium-3’s estimated value—ranked as the sixth most valuable substance on earth—means its extraction could fundamentally shift global resource markets and innovation priorities. With the potential to enable fusion, Helium-3 is a linchpin for both commercial success and the future of American and allied competitiveness. Valued at roughly $20 million per kilogram and with lunar reserves estimated at $1.5 trillion, Helium-3 is no longer just a scientific curiosity. For U.S. industry and policy, leadership in mining and deploying space resources is imperative.

A New Era of Strategic Competition

America’s long-standing dominance in space technology is now under increasing pressure. China has made clear its ambitions to extract Helium-3 at industrial scale and link lunar mining to quantum and energy competitiveness. This is a direct challenge—not only to America’s technological advantage but to its broader security interests. Nations that control access to critical minerals and space-based energy will shape the global order for decades to come. For the U.S. and its allies, this means that space resource investment cannot be viewed as optional, but rather essential for economic and national security.

While space mining is not a new concept—it’s long been a subject of both science fiction and serious enterprise—no company has yet fully succeeded in commercial extraction. However, significant contracts and funding have been secured, in some cases with support from major earth-based mining companies that recognize the mutual benefits of advanced space technologies. These efforts have produced valuable breakthroughs: many firms in this sector have developed highly effective mining technologies, including autonomous equipment now improving efficiency and safety here on Earth.

Energy Security and the Imperative for Investment

The global space economy reached a record $613 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $2 trillion by 2040, driven in part by surging investment in energy technologies beyond Earth as the world seeks reliable, sustainable sources.”

Energy has always dictated the fate of nations. On Earth, our reliance on gas, coal, wind, and solar links our prosperity to finite resources and ongoing vulnerabilities, and history shows that wars have been fought over access to these energy sources. Yet our means of harvesting terrestrial energy remain relatively inefficient, especially when compared to what is possible beyond Earth. The universe’s energy potential is immense—hundreds of billions of stars per galaxy, trillions of galaxies, and cosmic phenomena such as colliding black holes that release more energy than all stars combined. Even dark energy and dark matter—barely understood—hold additional promise, underscoring how much untapped potential exists beyond our planet.

No less a visionary than Jeff Bezos launched Blue Origin with the goal of building infrastructure to harness energy from space. During a 2019 unveiling of the Blue Moon lander, Bezos articulated that energy, more than any other limiting factor, will drive the future economics and expansion of civilization into space. The logic is compelling: as terrestrial resources reach their limits, the economics of space-based energy rapidly become more attractive and essential. If the U.S. hopes to maintain a position of strength in this strategic domain, investment and policy focus must accelerate. Private pioneers like Bezos have laid foundation stones, but national strategy, robust partnerships, and government leadership are now vital.

Crucially, the race for these materials and energy sources is global. China and other competitors recognize the strategic stakes, aligning commercial goals with national defense imperatives. While this discussion has focused primarily on Helium-3, the Moon and beyond contain other valuable minerals, gems, and alternative energy forms in abundance. While debate continues over the legitimacy and practicality of harvesting space resources, the rapid achievement of milestones once thought impossible signals that a new era is truly within reach. Rapid technological advancement and strong economic and national security incentives are driving this market toward reality. The question now is not if—but who will lead. The next decade will determine whether America and its allies shape the rules and reap the rewards of this new space economy, or risk ceding strategic ground to global competitors.

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Glen Dodson

Job Title, Cyberistics

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David Ulevitch

General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz

David Ulevitch is an entrepreneur and investor. As a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, he leads the firm’s American Dynamism practice, which focuses on investing in companies advancing American interests — including supporting builders in areas such as defense, national security, public safety, nuclear and aerospace. David sits on the boards of Alloy Automation, Anduril, AnyRoad, Charthop, Firstbase, Flock Safety, Orderful, Rewatch, Skydio, Superhuman, Supermove, Vitally, and WorkBoard. David has written extensively on the role of technology in advancing American interests, including how nuclear technology can untether our military, the future of public safety and how the U.S. can rewire the Pentagon for a new era. David was previously the founder and CEO of OpenDNS, a cloud-delivered security service that was acquired by Cisco in 2015 for $635 million. While at Cisco, David was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco Security — a $2.4 billion annual revenue business with more than 5,000 team members — where he oversaw the company’s global cybersecurity strategy, product portfolio, and business. Prior to OpenDNS, David founded EveryDNS, an authoritative DNS service, and grew it into the world’s largest free DNS service. He sold it to Dyn (now Oracle) in 2010.

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John M. B. O'Connor

John M. B. O’Connor

Chairman and CEO, J.H. Whitney Investment Management

John M. B. O’Connor is CEO of J.H. Whitney Investment Management, LLC. Previously, Mr. O’Connor was Chairman of JP Morgan Alternative Asset Management. Mr. O’Connor is also CEO of Whitney Strategic Services and Whitney Data Services. Mr. O’Connor serves on the Board of Directors of numerous companies including Oceus Networks, LLC., Sequoia Holdings, Inc., and Boon Logic, Inc.

Mr. O’Connor is a Senior Fellow at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he lectures on the Economics of National Security. He served as a member of the U.S. Department of War Business Board from 2005 to 2021 and as a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for New York from 2014 to 2019. He is a recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Air Force Distinguished Public Service Award and the Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award. Mr. O’Connor earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Tulane University and a Master’s in Business Administration degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

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Sherif Nahas

Sherif Nahas

Director of Private Equity, Ford Foundation

Sherif works at The Ford Foundation, where he manages approximately $7 billion in private investments, including venture capital, private equity, real estate, and natural resources. He previously managed private investments for the University of Virginia endowment, and before that worked at BankBoston and Sand Hill Capital. Sherif started his career as an engineer and product strategist at The Ford Motor Company. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a B.S. and M.E in Aerospace Engineering, and received an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan.

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Byron Loflin

Byron Loflin

Global Head of Board Advisory & Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence, Nasdaq

Byron Loflin is the Global Head of Board Advisory at Nasdaq where he leads the governance team in driving board and governance effectiveness. Byron founded the Center for Board Excellence (CBE) in 2010 and was CEO until it was acquired by Nasdaq in 2019.

Prior to CBE, Byron was the CEO and president for two private companies between 1992-2009. Along with speaking on and teaching corporate governance effectiveness, Byron is a graduate of James Madison University (BA) and Harvard Business School (OPM) and several HBS Executive Education Certificates including Havard’s Board Effectiveness program.

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Gen. David Stilwell

General David Stilwell

Ret. General USAF; Fmr Assistant Secretary of State (Asia)

Brig Gen (Ret) David Stilwell is the Fox Fellow for Future Pacing Threats at the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Institute for Future Conflict. In this role, he educates cadets and faculty on the growing military threat presented by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including its use of political and information warfare to undermine democracies. His teachings help prepare future officers for the challenges they will face immediately after commissioning. Stilwell most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of EastAsian and Pacific Affairs from 2019 to 2021. Before that, he served in the U.S.Air Force for 35 years. Stilwell enlisted as a Korean linguist in 1980, served as a fighter pilot and commander for 25 years, and was later the Defense Attaché in Beijing. He retired in 2015 as the Asia advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He speaks Korean, Chinese, and some Japanese.
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Adam Segal

Ira A. Lipman Chair in Emerging Technologies and National Security, and Director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

Adam Segal is the Ira A. Lipman chair in emerging technologies and national security and director of the Digital and Cyberspace Policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). An expert on security issues, technology development, and Chinese domestic and foreign policy, Segal was the project director for the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force reports Confronting Reality in Cyberspace, Innovation and National Security, Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet, and Chinese Military Power. His book The Hacked World Order: How Nations Fight, Trade, Maneuver, and Manipulate in the Digital Age (PublicAffairs, 2016) describes the increasingly contentious geopolitics of cyberspace. His work has appeared in the Financial Times, the New York Times, Foreign Policy, the Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs, among others. From April 2023 to June 2024, Segal was a senior advisor in the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, where he led the development of the United States International Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Before coming to CFR, Segal was an arms control analyst for the China Project at the Union of Concerned Scientists. There, he wrote about missile defense, nuclear weapons, and Asian security issues. He has been a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and Tsinghua University in Beijing. He has taught at Vassar College and Columbia University. Segal is the author of Advantage: How American Innovation Can Overcome the Asian Challenge (W.W. Norton, 2011)
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Nazak Nikakhtar Portrait

The Honorable Nazak Nikakhtar

Partner and National Security Chair, Wiley Rein LLP
Former Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce

The Honorable Nazak Nikakhtar brings over two decades of experience in international trade and national security to help clients succeed in the domestic and global marketplace. Through leadership roles in the U.S. government and private sector, Nazak has leveraged her valuable insights into the expansive range of U.S. and international laws, regulatory and policy processes, and federal agency resources to achieve clients’ business objectives. 

 

From 2018 to 2021, with unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Nazak served as the Department of Commerce’s Assistant Secretary for Industry & Analysis at the International Trade Administration (ITA). Nazak also served the duties of the Under Secretary for Industry and Security at Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). In these roles, Nazak was the agency’s primary liaison with U.S. industry and trade associations, and she shaped major initiatives to strengthen U.S. industry competitiveness, promote innovation, and accelerate economic and job growth.

 

As one of the key national security experts in the U.S. government, she developed and implemented innovative laws, regulations, and policies to safeguard strategically important technologies, strengthen the U.S. industrial base, and protect the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. As the Department’s lead on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), she played a key role in shaping U.S. investment policy. As the head of the agency’s trade policy office, she advised the U.S. government on legal and economic issues impacting critical technologies, advanced manufacturing, financial services, e-commerce, data privacy, cybersecurity, critical minerals/rare earths, and energy competition. Finally, as the federal agency’s lead on supply chain assessments, Nazak spearheaded the United States’ first-ever whole-of-government initiative to evaluate and strengthen supply chains across all strategic sectors of the economy.

 

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R.P. Eddy

R.P. Eddy

CEO, Ergo

R.P. Eddy is the CEO of Ergo, a geopolitical and economic intelligence firm known for forecasting critical world events. Leaders of allied governments and the world’s most consequential global businesses rely on Ergo to navigate what the firm calls “The Fastest Year in History”—with each year faster still.

Previously, R.P. served as a Director at the White House National Security Council and as a senior U.S. and UN diplomat. He has represented the U.S. in peace negotiations, played a role in the (flawed) creation of the International Criminal Court, and led attempts to recover American hostages. He was an initial architect of the Global Fund, which has since been credited with saving over 50 million lives; the UN team was honored with a Nobel Peace Prize. Recognized by Foreign Policy magazine as one of “America’s most respected national security experts,” R.P. was also named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum.

R.P. co-authored the award-winning bestseller Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes (HarperCollins). His advocacy work spans leading counterterrorism programs for the NYPD and LAPD, promoting Western industrial competitiveness with DARPA, advocating for safe social media, and supporting the responsible development of AI. He has testified before Congress, spoken at the UN General Assembly and the Nobel Prize Summit, and is a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission.

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Christina Alfonso

Executive Director, CGCI

Christina Alfonso is a senior advisor to leaders across government and industry, specializing in national security, economic competitiveness, and emerging technology policy. As the Executive Director of the Council on Global Competition and Innovation (CGCI), she leads an initiative championed by the U.S. Department of War and private sector executives to advance resilient, market-driven security investments and foster strategic growth. As a Senior Advisor at DARPA, Christina prioritized developing public-private partnerships and advised on strategies to strengthen the U.S. defense innovation ecosystem.

Previously, as co-founder/CFO of Novata, a Microsoft and S&P-backed technology platform, Christina enhanced private market transparency through non-financial data reporting. As co-founder/CEO of Madeira Global (2012-2020), she pioneered values-based investment solutions for the private equity and credit sectors.

She is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School Senior Executives in National and International Security program. Christina holds an M.B.A. from ESADE Business School (Spain) and a B.S. in Finance and Economics from Fordham University. Christina is a trustee and treasurer of the RWJBH Monmouth Medical Center Foundation and has served on the advisory boards of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle, PathNorth, and the Women’s Society for the Economy and Society. She has extensive international experience, most recently in São Paulo, and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.