San Francisco, Feb 4 (IANS): Interlune, a spacetech startup led by former Blue Origin leaders, has quietly raised $15.5 million in new funding and aims to close another $2 million, according to its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Interlune is led by Rob Meyerson, an aerospace executive who was president at Blue Origin for 15 years, reports TechCrunch.

The startup is focused on harvesting resources from the Moon. It closed a $1.85 million seed round in 2022.

“We aim to be the first company that harvests natural resources from the moon to use here on Earth,” Interlune CTO Gary Lai was quoted as saying in recent reports.

“We’re building a completely novel approach to extract those resources, efficiently, cost-effectively and also responsibly. The goal is really to create a sustainable in-space economy.”

Lai had a 20-year stint at Jeff Bezos-run Blue Origin, where he became chief architect for space transportation systems, including launchers and lunar landers.

“Harvesting natural resources from space to benefit Earth and establish an in-space economy,” read the startup’s description on its website.

“Earth's future is in our orbit,” it adds.

Interlune recently received a grant from the US National Science Foundation (NSF). That grant, amounting to $246,000, supports efforts to develop a system that could sort out moon dirt by particle size.