Home furnishing giant goes on a buying spree for Harbin Institute of Technology's cutting-edge technologies: Is lunar mining a new concept in A-shares or a new covert battle among major powers?
In the Age of Exploration in the 15th century, countless explorers set sail in search of the Spice Islands, a place rumored to be full of gold. Most of them didn't find the gold they expected, but the nautical charts they drew, the marine chronometers they invented, and the trade routes they established along the way completely reshaped the map of human civilization.
Today's lunar mining is just like the Age of Exploration back then.
If someone had told you a week ago that a domestic A-share home furnishing company specializing in whole - house customization and wardrobe hardware was going to invest tens of millions to mine "helium - 3" on the moon, you'd probably think it was just another absurd "concept hype" in the A - share market.
However, in late March 2026, the multi - million - level angel round financing of "Xingtu Helium Energy", a startup affiliated with Harbin Institute of Technology, exclusively invested by "Dinggu Jichuang", has made the entire commercial space industry sense something unusual.
As the low - Earth orbit in the Earth - Moon space is already filled with satellite internet constellations and Elon Musk's Starship is driving down the space freight cost to rock - bottom prices, shrewd industrial capital has started looking for the next decade's "long - term opportunity" in the deeper reaches of space.
Behind this seemingly radical cross - border alliance, is it a new market - value management strategy for traditional players after reaching the peak of their main business, or a risky move for Chinese cutting - edge scientific achievements to leverage the capital market and gain an edge in the global competition for deep - space resources?
The Cross - border Riddle: An A - share Shell with a Hard - tech Soul?
In the secondary market, it's not new for traditional manufacturing companies to cross over into new energy, semiconductors, or even the metaverse.
Dinggu Jichuang's heavy investment at this time inevitably makes people think of the collective anxiety of enterprises looking for a second growth curve in the highly competitive traditional home furnishing market.
However, if we shift our focus from the "investor" to the "target", the nature of this financing changes fundamentally.
Although "Xingtu Helium Energy" has only been established for a month, it has the core R & D team from Harbin Institute of Technology and top domestic aerospace research institutions behind it.
In the current commercial space industry, the model of "spillover of national - team technology + acceleration by social capital" is becoming an efficient new approach under the new national system.
For Xingtu Helium Energy, lunar mining is a bottomless pit for capital. What they need is not just multi - million - level startup funds, but also a capital channel that can tell a long - term commercialization story to the public and the market.
For Dinggu Jichuang, this is an affordable ticket to the most hardcore sci - fi track in the next few decades.
Regardless of how many grams of helium - 3 can be mined from the moon in the end, the "by - products" of lunar exploration, such as the research and development of lunar exploration robots, high - vacuum - resistant materials, and energy storage technologies for extreme environments, and their applications on Earth, are enough to create a huge valuation space in the capital market.
The New Great - Power Stealth Battle: The Political Economy behind "Space Miners"
Looking beyond the capital story in the A - share market and placing Xingtu Helium Energy in the global commercial space context, we can see that this is not an isolated cross - border event, but a microcosm of the intensifying stealth battle between China and the United States in the field of deep - space exploration.
Currently, there are two distinct yet competing routes in global lunar resource development.
To get a clearer view of the undercurrents in this game, we have systematically sorted out the key progress of the world's core lunar commercial exploration and resource development enterprises:
Map of the World's Core Lunar Commercial Exploration and Resource Development Enterprises
(As of the first quarter of 2026)
From this map, we can clearly see the competition between two parallel lines:
One is the commercial outsourcing model centered around NASA. Through the CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program, NASA outsources a large number of exploratory missions to private enterprises.
The $1 lunar soil purchase contract won by Lunar Outpost hides a deep - seated strategic conspiracy.
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 stipulates that space does not belong to any country. However, NASA is trying to create a legal precedent that "commercial companies have legal rights to mine and sell on the moon" by purchasing lunar soil from commercial companies.
This is a space enclosure movement in a commercial disguise.
The other is the steady and solid Chinese "national - team" model.
From the historic lunar far - side sampling by Chang'e 6 to the upcoming water - searching mission of Chang'e 7 and the in - situ resource utilization experiment of Chang'e 8, the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) led by China is advancing step by step.
Facing the flexible commercial exploration of the United States, China urgently needs domestic commercial forces to enrich the deep - space exploration ecosystem. The entry of enterprises like Xingtu Helium Energy is a natural response of China's industrial circle to this strategic requirement.
Dinggu Jichuang's investment is not only buying a hard - tech team but also accumulating factual basis for China to claim future "space mining rights".
Debunking the Energy Myth: The Surface and Substance of Lunar Mining
The capital market loves grand narratives, and "helium - 3" is undoubtedly the most alluring concept on the moon.
As a recognized perfect fuel for controlled nuclear fusion, just 100 tons of helium - 3 can meet the world's annual energy demand. Xingtu Helium Energy, named directly after "helium", clearly understands this well.
However, we must point out that this is only the "surface" of lunar mining. In the next 20 years, expecting to make money by transporting lunar minerals back to Earth may be a complete commercial false proposition.
First of all, humans have not yet achieved stable and economical net energy output from controlled nuclear fusion on Earth (such as the ITER project). Even if we have helium - 3 in front of us now, we can't turn it into electricity in the power grid.
Secondly, the abundance of helium - 3 in lunar soil is extremely low. Tens of millions of tons of lunar soil need to be heated to extract just a few tons of helium - 3. With the current space transportation capacity and energy supply of humans, it is simply impossible to support this kind of industrial - scale mining.
The real "substance" of lunar mining lies in in - situ resource utilization (ISRU).
In the next decade, the first customers of lunar mining will not be people on Earth, but spacecraft and astronauts on the moon. Whoever can mine resources on the moon first will monopolize the key to space infrastructure:
Finding water is like finding oil. There is water ice in the permanently shadowed regions at the lunar south pole. Hydrogen and oxygen produced by electrolyzing water are the best rocket fuels. Being able to produce fuel on the moon is like building an interstellar gas station, which is thousands of times cheaper than transporting fuel from Earth against the gravity well.
Digging soil is like building a house. Using solar energy or lasers to melt lunar soil and 3D - print lunar bricks to build lunar bases that can defend against micrometeorites and cosmic radiation is a prerequisite for major powers to stay on the moon for a long time.
The real commercial value of Xingtu Helium Energy at present is not how much energy it can transport back in the short term, but "laying eggs along the way".
The high - vacuum - resistant materials and energy storage technologies for extreme environments developed in the process of researching mining robots can be quickly applied to special industrial fields on Earth, such as deep - sea operations, high - risk mines, and nuclear power inspections, enabling self - sufficiency.
Be a Friend of Time or a Pusher of Space Bubbles?
When tens of millions of hot money collides with the distant lunar helium - 3, the market must stay extremely sober. On the "snow - falling - but - not - freezing" track of deep - space exploration, the survival rule is very cruel.
For investors in the primary market and cross - border listed companies, they should be wary of the trap of "PPT mining".
The long cycle and rapid capital consumption of deep - space exploration far exceed those of the new - energy vehicle manufacturing industry. Talking about an energy revolution decades later without considering the current commercial self - sufficiency ability is essentially a financial game of passing the parcel.
If this financing can be effectively converted into R & D resources for the Harbin Institute of Technology team in the field of special robots, it is a good investment. If it is just to drive up the stock price in the secondary market, it will only end up in a mess.
For all Chinese commercial space entrepreneurs trying to make money in space, they must win a long - term battle called "down - dimensional monetization".
During the long period before the real era of lunar mining arrives, how can enterprises survive? The answer is "apply space technology on Earth for monetization".
The solid - state batteries you develop for the extreme temperature difference on the moon must first be sold to extreme - cold energy storage projects on Earth. The sealed reducers you design for lunar dust must first be applied to unmanned mining vehicles in mines. Only by continuously using down - dimensional technologies to earn real money in the Earth market can you be qualified to wait until the day of lunar exploration.
The Ticket to the Age of Exploration
In the Age of Exploration in the 15th century, countless explorers set sail in search of the Spice Islands, a place rumored to be full of gold.
Most of them didn't find the gold they expected, but the nautical charts they drew, the marine chronometers they invented, and the trade routes they established along the way completely reshaped the map of human civilization.
Today's lunar mining is just like the Age of Exploration back then.
Whether the multi - million financing of Xingtu Helium Energy is a cross - border capital gamble or the prelude to a hard - tech breakthrough, the race towards deep space has irreversibly begun.
While being vigilant against capital bubbles, we should also show respect to the real industrial pioneers.
Because after the tide recedes, those "space water sellers" who truly master the Earth - Moon transfer orbit technology, run through the in - situ resource utilization cycle, and produce industrial achievements in extreme environments will not only secure China's right to speak in the future space enclosure movement but also become the absolute leaders of the next - generation Earth industrial revolution.
The mining rights of the moon, the eighth continent, only recognize strength and patience. This new great - power stealth battle has just begun.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Star Pulse Infinity", author: Unilym, published by 36Kr with authorization.