Helium-3

Financial Event

Lunar mining of helium-3 begins.

The powerful Japanese corporation Motokatsu-Kyono Combine begins successfully mining helium-3 from the Mare Imbrium. It sparks a wave of commercial interest in the Moon. Within 10 years, at least a dozen corporate concerns are involved in mining substances abundant on the lunar crust but scarce on Earth. These include helium-3, which is the ideal fuel for fusion reactors, gallium, which has replaced silicon in the making of chips, chromium, aluminium, iron, oxygen, gravidium and super-hard titanium.