No one has been on the moon for decades, and now, in collaboration with NASA, the Japanese space agency, JAXA, wants to send an exploratory mission to the Moon. Japan wants to help build a spaceport which will be near the Moon, in the latter part of the 2020s. They hope to send Japanese astronauts to the Moon, and to conduct exploratory missions, according to The Japan News (TJN), which quoted sources that are close to the government. According to the TJN, the government wants to send a draft report regarding the project to a group of experts.
Japan is ambitious to declare its leadership in the space industry. Likely, with joining NASA in the mission to the moon, the country will conduct various scientific experiments and get above the competition in the space industry. Japan still has some experiments to carry out aboard the ISS until 2024.
Japan hopes to join the USA and Russia in the mission to the Moon
In September of this year, the project called “Deep Space Gateway,” was announced at the International Aeronautics Congress in Adelaide and it includes NASA and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. There are plans to cooperate together to build a base which would orbit the moon. Japan wants to join the team. The base would work as a habitat for deep space exploration, refueling station, and resupply. If Japan joins the project, its astronauts could more easily explore the moon. NASA is planning to start sending construction materials into space around 2020, to start the assembly of the project. According to TJN, it’s in Japan’s best interest to join the U.S. space agency using its technical expertise to add its contributions to the projects. More importantly, the collaboration between the space agencies will reduce costs.
All reports and proposals concerning the space exploration will be submitted to Japan’s Committee on National Space Policy. After that, plans on space policy will be released in December. The plan also includes what technology is needed for exploration of the Moon.
What do you think about Japan and NASA’s collaborative mission to the moon?
