TAE Technologies signs prospective helium-3 supply agreement with Black Moon Energy

TAE’s helium-3 agreement with Black Moon Energy adds a further fuel option alongside its hydrogen-boron development programme

(Image courtesy of TAE Technologies)

TAE Technologies has signed a prospective helium-3 supply agreement with lunar-development company Black Moon Energy Corporation, adding a fuel option alongside the hydrogen-boron cycle TAE identifies as its preferred commercial fuel. For engineers tracking TAE’s field-reversed configuration reactor, the agreement extends the range of fuel cycles available to the platform ahead of Da Vinci, TAE’s plant designed to generate 50 MWe, which the company expects to begin operating in 2031.

What the Helium-3 agreement commits to

Under the agreement announced August 5, 2026, Black Moon Energy Corporation (BMEC) would supply helium-3 fuel to TAE. The public announcement describes a prospective supply option and a commercial development collaboration; supply volumes, pricing and delivery dates have not been disclosed. TAE CEO Michl Binderbauer said the agreement adds flexibility, noting that TAE’s configuration can accommodate multiple fuel cycles while many fusion machines, in his words, are limited to deuterium-tritium. BMEC CEO David Warden described the deal as part of building a commercial framework for future fuel supply chains.

TAE’s fuel cycle roadmap

TAE says it has pursued a hydrogen-boron fuel cycle since its founding and describes p-B11 as its preferred commercial fuel, with deuterium-helium-3 and deuterium-tritium available as alternative cycles its platform can also accommodate. The helium-3 agreement sits within that broader flexibility, giving TAE an additional supply relationship to draw on as it develops Da Vinci and the technology programme behind it.

TAE’s current research machine, Norm, demonstrated in 2025 that field-reversed plasma could be formed and sustained using neutral beam injection alongside electrical biasing, gas fuelling and other controls, with the theta-pinch formation sections inactive or removed. TAE says removing the dedicated theta-pinch formation system could reduce reactor length and complexity by up to 50% compared with earlier designs. The company presents the result as supporting its route toward a compact commercial reactor running on hydrogen-boron fuel, with power-generation targets in the early 2030s.

Black Moon Energy’s lunar supply plan

Black Moon Energy’s side of the agreement centres on mining helium-3 from the lunar surface. BMEC says it plans a robotic delineation mission within five years, and CEO David Warden told Aerospace America the company is targeting 2029 for an initial reconnaissance rover.

TAE has said it expects to select a site for Da Vinci later in 2026. The plant’s design work continues alongside TAE’s nearly three-decade development of its p-B11-centred platform, with the helium-3 agreement adding a further fuel option to that programme as it progresses.

TAE’s broader corporate timeline

The helium-3 agreement arrives as TAE continues to advance its business combination with Trump Media & Technology Group Corp, with a Form S-4 filing planned and closing anticipated before the end of 2026. Together, the site-selection decision, the Form S-4 filing and the helium-3 supply relationship mark three parallel strands of TAE’s path toward commercial operation, each on its own disclosed timeline.

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