Japan plans to use 'moon ice' as fuel for space exploration
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aims to create fuel by generating hydrogen from water extracted from the moon’s ice deposits by around 2035.
The use of moon-derived hydrogen will reportedly cut costs in terms of transporting fuel from earth for its space projects, as is currently required, according to Kyodo News agency.
Although the surface of the moon is not known to have sources of liquid water, research suggests that there may be an ice crater near the lunar south pole which has never been exposed to sunlight.
Japan plans to work alongside the United States in building a major lunar orbit space station called Gateway over the coming decade, before completing a fuel factory at the lunar south pole by 2035.
Technology at the fuel factory is likely to focus on first splitting water into its components of oxygen and hydrogen using a solar cell, before creating energy by combining them.
JAXA reportedly plans to use the hydrogen fuel in a reusable spacecraft which can transport four astronauts to and from the Gateway, a round trip journey that will require an estimated 37 tonnes of water.
Japan also plans to use the fuel to power a transport vehicle that can travel for up to 621 miles on the moon, with each surface trip likely to need around 21 tonnes of water, according to Kyodo News.
News of the project comes just days after Hiroshi Yamakawa, president of JAXA, and Jim Bridenstine, administrator of NASA, met to discuss bilateral cooperation in terms of lunar exploration.
The pair agreed to step up collaboration between the two nations in terms of advancing human activities on the moon, as a gateway to eventual exploration of Mars.
A growing number of countries are stepping up efforts to analyse water resources on the moon, including India, the US and China, which plans to send a probe later this year to collect lunar soil samples.
