Russia & the US are in a new race to built permanent bases on the moon to begin an industrial-scale delivery of the rare isotope Helium-3 by 2020. Helium-3 is a highly effective fuel for thermonuclear reactors but is a very scarce on earth but abundant on the moon. According to Russia's Energia Space Corporation President Nikolai Sevastyanov, one ton of Helium-3 could generate as much energy as 14 million tons of oil. Based on this estimate, 100 tons of Helium-3 is enough to meet the earth's entire energy needs for a whole year. It is estimated that the moon has up to 500 million tons of Helium-3 trapped in the upper layers. The deadline to set up such a base on moon coincides with a timeline to develop thermonuclear reactors based on Helium-3 isotope and the country that could which could deliver Helium-3 to earth will be the global energy leader of the 21st century.