![\"India](\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/chandrayaan-2a.jpg\")
There are an estimated one million tonnes of helium-3 in the moon, though only 25% of that could be brought to Earth, Gerald Kulcinski, director of the Fusion Technology Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a former member of the NASA Advisory Council\u00a0told\u00a0Bloomberg<\/em>\u00a0last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s enough to meet the India isn\u2019t the only one getting on board of the lunar mining train. Both China and the European Union<\/a> have recently floated ideas about extracting Helium-3 from the Earth\u2019s natural satellite. Beijing, in fact, has already landed on the moon twice in the 21st\u00a0century, with more missions to follow.<\/p>\n After being considered mostly a science-fiction tale, governments are now rushing to implement programs and legislation that allow them to join the race for mining in space.<\/p>\n In 2015, former US President Barack Obama\u00a0signed a law that grants US citizens rights to own resources<\/a>\u00a0mined in space. The ground-breaking rule was touted as a major boost to asteroid mining because it encourages the commercial exploration and utilization\u00a0of resources from asteroids obtained by US firms.<\/p>\n Shortly after, Luxembourg launched an official initiative<\/a> to promote Canada is also eying the moon. Last Some of the space ventures in the
\nworld\u2019s current energy demands for at least two, and maybe as many as five,
\ncenturies, said the expert said, who estimates that helium-3 is worth almost $5
\nbillion a tonne.<\/p>\nNo longer science fiction<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"India](\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/chandrayaan-2b.jpg\")
\nthe mining of asteroids for minerals. The tiny European country, which has been
\nstudying possible involvement in the sector since 2013, aims to become Europe\u2019s
\ncentre for space mining.<\/p>\n
\nyear, Northern Ontario-based Deltion Innovations partnered with Moon
\nExpress, the first American private space exploration firm to have been granted government permission<\/a> to travel beyond Earth\u2019s
\norbit, on future opportunities in outer space.<\/p>\n
\nworks include plans to mine asteroids<\/a>, track space debris, build
\nthe first human settlement in Mars<\/a>, and billionaire Elon Musk\u2019s
\nown plan for an unmanned mission to the red planet.<\/p>\n