Japan takes the plan to join US-led moon station project one step forward
Tokyo, December 12: Japan has moved one step ahead towards joining US-led moon mission project as the cabinet on Tuesday approved the plan. Japan eagerly wants to send Japanese astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time by joining the project. The project plans to build a new space station in the moon's orbit.
Japan wants to contribute to the U.S.-led project under its basic space policy roadmap. Japan has revised the roadmap of its basic space policy. The project is expected to be complete by the 2nd half of 2020. One of the motivations behind this plan is to prevent space radiation.
The new roadmap wants to reach many targets. One of them is to send astronauts to the lunar surface in cooperation with Washington. The Japanese government plans to make available data it owns, such as satellite images, to private enterprises for the free charge which would lead to the creation of new business.
In November Japan PM Abe and US President Donald Trump had talks where they agreed to promote collaboration in space exploration. While Japan wants to keep a strong voice in international space science, US wants to utilize the envisioned space station around the moon as a base to explore the lunar surface and Mars.