By Kentaro Kato
Akihabara News (Tokyo) — The Lunar Industry Vision Council recently submitted a white paper to Minister of State for Space Policy Shinji Inoue titled Lunar Industry Vision – Toward Planet 6.0 Era, outlining the domestic industry’s recommendations to the Japanese government. This may mark a new era in which private sector companies take a stronger role in the nation’s space development efforts.
Traditionally, it has been the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) that has led Japanese ventures beyond the skies.
For example, in 1990, JAXA (under a different name at that time) launched a vessel called Hiten (Muse-A), which successfully achieved a lunar orbit, making Japan only the third country to accomplish this feat.
In September 2007, it launched Kaguya (Selene), which traveled around the Moon and impacted on its surface.
Currently, JAXA is in the process of planning a lunar base capable of accommodating up to four individuals for five hundred days, set to be completed by 2035.
To facilitate its lunar activities, JAXA also plans to build a lunar propellant production plant which would convert hydrogen and oxygen extracted from the lunar surface into propellant used for lunar probes. The construction of this plant is targeted for the period between 2030 and 2034, with the aim that it will be in practical use for a decade, from 2035 to 2044.
JAXA is also engaging in international collaborative efforts.
The International Space Station (ISS) program was started as an effort to promote international cooperation on space development. As the world began to see the Moon and asteroids as the next frontiers, fourteen space agencies, including JAXA, participated in a series of discussions on the next phase of space development.
In May 2007, these agencies articulated their vision in Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination. They also set up a new voluntary mechanism, the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG).
In March 2018, the 2nd International Space Exploration Forum (ISEF) was held in Tokyo, following the first forum that had been held in Washington DC four years earlier.
The United States has been a key partner for Japan in space development.
In July 2020, the Ministry of Education collaborated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in creating the Joint Exploration Declaration of Intent for Lunar Cooperation (JEDI), which promised to deliver mutual efforts on behalf of the Artemis Program. This US-led initiative aims to send humans to the Moon by 2024 and to Mars sometime in the next decade.
In October 2020, Japan was among the eight countries that initially signed the Artemis Accords (three other countries joined later), which sets standards and rules for promoting international space exploration, based upon the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, a basis for international space law signed by 111 state parties.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Japan and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America Concerning Cooperation on the Civil Lunar Gateway also came into effect at the end of last year. Through this instrument, the Japanese government promised to maintain the “Gateway,” a human outpost in the vicinity of the Moon which the United States is currently developing.
Returning to the latest activity, the Lunar Industry Vision Council is seeking Japanese government support to develop a business environment in which Japanese private companies can independently carry out their own lunar initiatives. It advocates for the “Planet 6.0” concept, which aims to establish societies and economies which integrate the Earth with outer space.
The council is determined to have Japan take the lead in the lunar industry, bringing about innovation which could benefit existing industries. The council wishes to provide policy recommendations, establish norms for the industry, and conduct lunar businesses in various fields.
The 2025 World Expo in Osaka, in particular, is seen as a good opportunity to showcase private-sector advances.
The concrete recommendations to the Suga administration include formulating a Japanese government masterplan for lunar activities and increasing public awareness of the growing practicality of developing lunar industries.
In addition, the council hopes to promote cooperation within the private sector on lunar initiatives, including the expansion of educational efforts.
The council notes the critical importance of establishing norms and a legal framework that will facilitate private investment from both inside and outside the country.
In fact, in recent years the Japanese government has been passing legislation related to the development of the space industry.
In November 2018, the Space Activities Act (formally the Regulation for Enforcement of the Act on Launching of Spacecraft, etc., and Control of Spacecraft) was effectuated. (The United States had created an equivalent law way back in 1984). This law requires government permission for private companies to launch rockets and artificial satellites. It also provides a basic outline for compensation claims in the event of accidents.
On June 15, 2021, the Diet passed the Space Resources Act (formally the Law Concerning the Promotion of Business Activities Related to the Exploration and Development of Space Resources) to recognize private enterprises’ ownership of any space resources which they are able to collect.
Japan is only the fourth country to recognize possible private ownership of space resources, after the United States, Luxembourg, and United Arab Emirates. This legislation encourages the private sector to develop its for-profit space exploration capabilities.
Over one hundred Japanese private companies have joined or are now considering joining the lunar industry.
One of the most prominent Japanese startups, ispace, aims to provide transportation services and send payloads to the Moon as soon as next year. Its Hakuto-R program has set out the ambitious goal of reaching the lunar surface in 2022 and to conduct lunar exploration in 2023 by means of Falcon 9, a partially-reusable rocket manufactured by the US company SpaceX.
Whether or not this timeline proves feasible remains to be seen, but Japan is clearly positioning itself to become one of the world leaders in pursuing the Moon development race.
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