Starship could be the machine that paves the way to unlimited energy on Earth, as well as the spark that ignites the first extraterrestrial war...
Everyone's all talking about sending Starships to Mars, but the first Starship mission actually involves the moon. Why? Is it really about making life multi-planetary, or is it about an insane mission to capture extreme wealth and unimaginable power?
The mainstream narrative says the Artemis moon mission is about testing space habitat strategies and figuring out how to mine water to establish a permanent base for deeper space exploration.
But there's something A LOT more interesting, and very few people are talking about...
Getting to the moon will unlock access to an extremely rare isotope -- and this could spark a golden age of unlimited energy here on Earth. Frighteningly, the first ones to bring that isotope back might become the most powerful force that humanity has ever known.
What's the SpaceX Lunar Strategy According to Mainstream Discourse?
The main lunar goals that SpaceX talks about are:
👉 Make getting to the Moon routine and establish permanent human bases there.
According to Elon Musk (2017 IAC speech):
“Starship will have the ability to transport very large quantities of cargo --building materials, equipment, and ultimately people -- to enable the creation of a self-sustaining base on the Moon and Mars.”
How much cargo exactly? SpaceX claims their working number for payloads to the moon is approximately 20–30 tons per Starship Moon landing.
As for what they're bringing, it probably includes advanced autonomous robots powered by sophisticated AI, in addition to materials for bases, scientific experiments, and mining.
👉 Establish mining operations and permanent human colonies
This is where the machinery, robots, and AI come into play. Mining operations and permanent human bases on the moon are the big goals here. But when it comes to mining, we mostly hear about water.
They say they could create hydrogen rocket fuel from water deposits on the moon, using it as a base for further exploration.
The thing we don't hear about is the untapped wealth of lunar raw materials that's valuable enough to trigger wars.
💰 The Moon and Its Resources May Be the Key to Unlimited Energy on Earth, and More...
Many are not aware of this fact, but the moon could be home to the secret of unlimited energy -- that is, if someone can figure out how to get that secret back to Earth.
There's one specific rare material on the moon -- which is extremely scarce on Earth but plentiful on the moon -- and it could change everything for humanity. In fact, this resource is so valuable that many conspiracy theorists believe it's the true reason for Starship (not Mars colonization).
What is that not-so-secret material? It's Helium‑3.
Helium-3 is the big one. It's potentially the secret to clean, limitless energy on Earth. But there are two important reasons why we aren't already using it:
First, we don't have the technology. We haven't fully designed helium-3 fusion tech, but it could come sooner than you think -- and it's timed quite nicely with our moon colonization efforts, by the way. 👀
According to Space.com in an article about ongoing fusion efforts:
“Fusion power reactors will likely only be 20–30 years away, touted by the experimenters and their fans.” --Space.com
There's some serious weight to this projection. If conventional (deuterium–tritium) fusion can achieve efficient output by the mid-2040s (and they've been making a lot of progress in recent years), it paves the way for helium-3 fusion within the same rough time-line.
Second, Helium-3 concentrations are so scarce on Earth that we can only use it for niche purposes like neutron detection, not power. The planet simply doesn't have enough helium-3 to fuel power plants or fusion reactors at scale.
Even if fusion tech using helium-3 were ready today, we’d be stuck without a large fuel supply unless we mined it from somewhere else -- like the Moon.
Just How Much Helium-3 is on the Moon Compared to Earth?
Let's put this in perspective. The total estimated amount of helium-3 on the earth is approximately 100 to a few hundred kilograms. That's less than a single metric ton.
By comparison, the moon is home to an estimated 1 million to 5 million metric tons of helium-3 -- and that's just considering the top few meters of soil (regolith). Lunar concentrations are the highest in ancient mare regions -- areas with lots of basalt rock. These places had longer exposure to the solar winds that have deposited helium-3 into the surface regolith over billions of years.
As for how valuable it is, only 25 tons of helium-3 could theoretically power all of the United States for a year.
If there's any doubt on how important it would be for humanity to unlock access to helium-3 on the moon -- the chief scientist of China’s lunar exploration program, Ouyang Ziyuan, said the following in a 2006 interview:
"Whoever first conquers the Moon will benefit first [...] Three space‑shuttle missions a year could bring enough fuel [helium‑3] for all human beings across the world.”
Whoever controls these controls helium-3 controls the future, on Earth and in space.
And the timeline is convenient. Getting a moon colony and lunar mining up and running will probably take another decade, and the first one to do it will be able to stake their claim on the richest helium-3 deposits near Earth, just in time for fusion technology to go mainstream.
Incidentally, helium-3 is the most valuable substance on the moon right now, but there are other substances SpaceX wants: like water ice, rare earth elements (REEs), titanium, silicon, aluminum, and platinum. And other forces will want them too.
Still, nothing tops the potential value of helium-3... Especially when energy access is critical to powering AI systems with god-like power.
🏴☠️ Is a Helium-3 Space War Coded?
Starship paves the road to helium-3 mining on the lunar surface -- and potentially unlimited energy on earth -- but unlimited energy means unlimited power, and that could mean a war over who gets to control it.
As nations and corporations stake their claims on valuable lunar mining property, they'll have armies of robot miners, AI surveillance networks, autonomous drones, armed lunar rovers at their disposal. It's not too far-fetched to see instances of remote sabotage and forceful seizure of helium-3 claims mines -- especially when it could be so valuable for energy on Earth.
Remember, energy is needed to fuel powerful AI systems, and the more energy you have, the more powerful the AI, and the more powerful your AI-dependent tech and robot armies.
Could disagreements over helium-3 access trigger the first extraterrestrial war?
Mariel Borowitz (Georgia Tech space policy expert) summarized the risk of a moon war like this:
“It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where conflicting interests over lunar resources escalate -- especially when autonomous systems and AI are making decisions in real time.”
What do you think? Is it a legit conspiracy, a crackpot idea, or something else? Could "mars and making life multi-planetary" just be a cover that allows SpaceX and their partners to capture massive reserves of the most valuable substance -- helium-3 -- that mankind has ever known, thus allowing them to control unlimited energy and unlimited AI power?
Or maybe, a secret all-powerful AI is already the reason behind it all... Just thinking out loud. :-)
*This article is dedicated to my love of the Starship -- and especially the SSHIP mission to the moon.