helium Archives - usatoday24

They no longer have helium and they have liquefied natural gas left for 11 days

April 10, 2026 by usatoday24

Taiwan has run out of helium. And has a reserve of liquefied natural gas for 11 days at best. It is a very serious problem that is of great concern to Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers. In fact, the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA) has asked the Government of the island that set up a strategic reserve of these two resources capable of guaranteeing their availability for a long period of time. The origin of this problem is the war between the US, Israel and Iran. These countries have agreed to a two-week ceasefire agreement, but Taiwan remains on the ropes. The blocking of Strait of Hormuz has disrupted the supply of helium and liquefied natural gas on which many Asian countries depend, and the Taiwanese integrated circuit industry is deeply dependent on these two resources. Taiwan cannot afford to have such a fragile supply chain More than 40% of Taiwanese power plants use liquefied natural gas. And chip factories need a stable supply of electricity to sustain their activity. Additionally, these facilities require the use of helium in several critical stages of the IC production process, and Taiwan currently does not have a helium reserve. The US and Japan have already created a strategic inventory of liquefied natural gas and helium, and TSIA has requested the Taiwanese government to do the same. There is a lot at stake. The production of cutting-edge chips gives Taiwan enormous relevance from a geostrategic point of view And the semiconductor industry is strategic for Taiwan for three fundamental reasons: it represents among 13% and 15% of the gross domestic product of the country; is the engine of its exports with a value close to 40% of the total; and finally, the production of cutting-edge chips gives the country enormous relevance from a geostrategic point of view. For this reason, it is crucial for this Asian country that TSMC, UMC and its other companies involved in the integrated circuit industry have the resources they need. TSIA has noted that Taiwan must diversify its energy sources: “We propose to the Government the need to continue diversifying our energy sources and the supply of critical materials to prepare for the uncertainty of the current situation (…) Our Association also supports the Government’s decision to reopen nuclear power plants to have a more stable energy supply as long as the processes meet legal requirements and safety is guaranteed.” Be that as it may, the underlying problem that Taiwan faces is that its economy, as we have seen, is deeply dependent on the semiconductor industry. And their supply chain is fragile. Very fragile. The Administration closed the last nuclear power plant in May 2025, and since then more than 95% of the island’s electricity depends on imported resources. The temporary ceasefire agreement reached by the US, Israel and Iran is likely to alleviate some of the pressure on Taiwan, but its integrated circuit industry is too important to allow it to be so sensitive to the international situation. Image | Generated by Xataka with Gemini More information | Nikkei Asia In Xataka | We already know what the chips that will arrive until 2039 will be like. The machine that will allow them to be manufactured is close

Without helium there are no chips or RAM. And the largest producers are in the eye of the Iran war

March 12, 2026 by usatoday24

Think of the world as if it were a puppet. It is supported by threads that move, but when one of those threads breaks, the whole wobbles. If several strings break at once, the puppet falls apart. In the technological world, 2026 has started on the wrong foot. The main RAM memory companies They have turned to producing memory for AI, leaving the consumer market. This has caused an unprecedented increase of prices that affects consumers, but also companies. Right now, it’s impossible to guess when it will return to normal because each party involved thinks one thing. And, for a few days now, we have another of those threads that I talked about at the beginning: the iran war. The consequence We are already seeing it immediately: the Strait of Hormuz boilingthe barrel of crude oilreaching stratospheric prices and a gasoline –dieselabove all- through the clouds. But since everything that goes wrong can get worse, now there is another crisis knocking at the door: that of helium. And it is the perfect union between RAM crisis and the war in Iran because without helium… well, without helium there are many things that do not work. Neither does artificial intelligence. RAM crisis + Iran war = no helium For many, helium is that gas that gives us such a funny voice and allows us to inflate balloons that float. For the semiconductor industry, helium is a critical and irreplaceable element in the manufacturing process. Being a noble gas, it does not chemically interfere with the materials of the silicon crystal growth process. inside the huge machines that companies use to create the wafers that are later used to make chips. They prevent materials from reacting with oxygen or other contaminants, so the results are purer. They are like a shield, but helium is also essential to dissipate the heat of the extreme lithography machinesto eliminate waste after each manufacturing cycle and even to identify any leaks in one of these machines. Its particles are among the smallest that exist and are what reveal even the smallest leaks in manufacturing chambers that must be under vacuum. Come on, it is not an element that can be easily replaced. There are two companies that right now have such a deep dependency that any variation in supply would be fatal. What companies? Exactly: Samsung and SK Hynix, the same ones that have dedicated themselves to AI and the same ones that do not plan to lift a finger to alleviate the crisis of RAM memory prices (and therefore of SSDs and any device that has a NAND chip). Both are involved in the manufacturing process of the sophisticated HBM4 memoryand both need helium. The problem is that helium is a byproduct in natural gas production, and some of the world’s largest refineries are in the Middle East. With the war in Iran, it is clear that the civilian targets are data centers and energy producers. If these infrastructures are attacked, the rest of the West is paralyzed, and they have begun to launch kamikaze drones against them. There is the oil company Ras Tanurabut also that of Ras Laffan, from QatarEnergy. It is one of the whales in the production of natural gas and, therefore, in the production of helium. And if the refineries close and the ships do not arrive, the smelters’ reserves begin to run out. There are already voices that they point to problems in the medium term if the situation persists. SK Hynix claims that they have a “diversified supply chain and sufficient helium inventory”something similar to what has commented another of the large chip manufacturers: TSMC. The problem is that these guarantees are short-term. If the situation continues with a prolonged closure of Hormuz, more than 25% of the world’s helium supply will be affected. This will cause the companies that ‘use’ gas the most to begin to see that their reserves are depleted at a faster rate than they are replenished. the market, always so unstablehas already reacted and actions Both Samsung and SK Hynix have fallen in recent hours due to supply concerns. Because we are no longer talking about a price of RAM and runaway gasolinewe are talking about helium being necessary for the manufacturing of any advanced chip, but also in quantum computing or for the numerous space launches. And as Hormuz continues, there will be many entities fighting for an essential, irreplaceable and very valuable good. Faced with SK Hynix’s moderate optimism, more pessimistic voices are already seeing echoes of the component crisis of 2020. Images | VALGO, ASML In Xataka | ‘Focus: The ASML Way’: the book that reveals the secrets of the most powerful European company in the chip industry

The return to the Moon is delayed again and now helium is to blame

February 24, 2026 by usatoday24

If at this point someone tells you that NASA has delayed the mission again Artemis IIthe most logical thing is to think that they are playing a joke on you, since the list of accumulated postponements begins to border on comedy. And the last one is not for less, since after announcing that the last tests had been a success, hours later we knew that the mission scheduled in the window that opened on March 6 has been postponed again and the rocket returns to its ‘garage’. The new culprit. If one of the great enemies was hydrogen, which already forced delay the first date that we had for 2026, now the focus has been on helium. And, after the second general test with fuel that we saw last fridayengineers have detected a new technical problem in the propulsion system of the SLS superrocket. Specifically, it is an interruption in the flow of helium in the intermediate cryogenic stage. AND it’s not a minor mattersince this gas is absolutely essential to purge the engines and pressurize the cryogenic fuel tanks in order to ensure mission safety. And although everything worked well in the previous tests, during the post-test the system said “enough.” To the starting box. As confirmed by NASA itself on its official blog this February 21, as well as Jared Isaacman, current administrator of the agency, via Xthe team is evaluating the situation, but the decision has already been made: rollback. Repairs cannot be done outdoors on the launch pad, forcing the behemoth SLS to be returned to its garage, technically known as the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). The possible causes of this failure range from a blocked filter to a failure in the umbilical interface or the check valve, which are technical ghosts that are dangerously reminiscent of the problems that already tortured Artemis I in 2022 and that generated a situation of constant delays that took away all the seriousness of the mission. The new window. With March completely off the calendar, everything points to April, if it resolves quickly enough and passes the next general test. Although, given what we have seen, fixing one problem causes a completely different problem to arise, so saying a date is real nonsense. The chronology. Making a list of all the critical points in the mission that was to put four humans back into lunar orbit is almost a titanic and memory challenge, but we are going to illustrate it to make clear the context of delays that we have seen in this mission that has been going on for years. It all starts in November 2024, which was the original launch date. Throughout 2024, the mission was scheduled from September 2025 to April 2026 after discovering severe damage in the heat shield of the Orion capsule during Artemis I. In March 2025, a little light was seen when it was pointed out that the mission could be brought forward until February 2026. January 2026: a winter storm delay transfer to the launch pad. February 2, 2026: the first dress rehearsal is aborted with 5 minutes left due to a hydrogen leak liquid. February 21, 2026: After fixing the leak, the second rehearsal is a success and announces the date of March 6 with great fanfare… and in the end the helium fails, throwing March overboard. Doubts about the future. The bad experience with Artemis I and II already makes us doubt everything that NASA has planned in the future. Artemis III is the next major space project that aims to land at the south pole of the Moon and for man to set foot on lunar soil again. A mission that has already been delayed until 2027 in order to further perfect the capsule and the suits space. But the real focus is on Mars with the goal of humans setting foot on the red planet for the first time. A much more complex mission as it involves a much greater distance and a mission time that requires the astronauts to travel for many more days, with all the security implications that this entails. China. The great competitor of the United States in this space race, which has a great political component behind it. And while NASA turns its calendars into wet paper, on the other side of the world the Chinese space program follows a methodical rhythm, opaque in its crises, but at the moment relentless in its dates. Right now the goal is to put taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2030, and although the United States there is still room for temporary advantagethe image contrast is brutal: while the SLS suffocates between hydrogen leaks and helium failures under the spotlights around the planet, the Chinese space agency (CNSA) continues to chain millimeter successes with its Chang’e robotic missions. Images | POT In Xataka | Two Spanish space giants have joined forces to take 5G defense satellites into space: PLD Space and Sateliot

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