Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin will use moon dust to power its rockets: What is it and how it will work
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is planning to use moon dust to power its rockets. The Amazon founder-owned rocket company that competes with Elon Musk’s SpaceX has unveiled a new artificial intelligence (AI) powered device that can convert moon dust into an energy source. This lunar vacuum, which was presented at Amazon’s ReInvent 2025 conference in Las Vegas, was developed using technology from the startup Istari Digital. Will Roper, the startup’s CEO, explained that the device works by sucking up moon dust and extracting its heat, effectively converting the dust into a battery-like power source. This technology is critical for overcoming the challenges posed by the two-week-long lunar night (which occurs every 28 days). This is a period when the moon goes into darkness, and its surface experiences extreme temperature drops. This period typically damages or disables spacecraft hardware operating on the Moon’s surface, as it lacks a robust, long-lasting power supply.In a statement to CNBC, Roper said, “So what it does is sucks up moon dust and it extracts the heat from it so it can be used as an energy source, like turning moon dust into a battery. Kind of like vacuuming at home, but creating your own electricity while you do it.”
How AI was used to develop Blue Origin’s moon dust battery
Roper, who served as assistant secretary of the Air Force during President Donald Trump’s first term, said that the battery was designed entirely using AI. He is also recognised for changing how the Air Force and the newly formed Space Force buy and develop equipment. A key part of Istari’s technological advancement is its ability to control and reduce AI hallucinations, which occur when AI makes up false information.Roper explained that the platform takes all the requirements a part needs and creates boundaries or a “fence around the playground” that the AI cannot cross while creating designs.“Within that playground, AI can generate to its heart’s content,” he explained.“In the case of Blue Origin’s moon battery, [it] doesn’t tell you the design was a good one, but it tells us that all of the requirements were met, the standards were met, things like that that you got to check before you go operational,” Roger added.Istari is supported financially by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and already partners with the US government. The startup has been serving as the main contractor for Lockheed Martin on the experimental X-56A unmanned aircraft.
