Lunar Exploration "Artemis Program" Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Approximately 80 billion yen Budget request September 19 11:55
Regarding the "Artemis Program" in which Japan participates in exploring the moon, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has decided to include approximately 80 billion yen in the budget request for the next fiscal year as development costs for unmanned space transport vessels and life support systems. ..
The "Artemis Program" will be led by the United States to build a new space station "Gateway" that orbits the moon, and will send astronauts to the moon again in 2024, and will continue to explore the moon thereafter. Japan announced its participation last year with a similar plan.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has developed an unmanned space transport ship "HTV-X" to supply supplies to the "Gateway" in connection with the "Artemis Program" in response to a request for a rough estimate of the budget for the next fiscal year, which is the first time since the announcement of participation. We have decided to include about 61 billion yen in the development of life support systems, about 7.6 billion yen in the development of life support systems, and about 4.7 billion yen in the technology demonstration plan for the moon landing, which is about 80 billion yen in total for the three items.
It is estimated that a total of about 200 billion yen will be required to implement these items, and the development cost of the lunar rover is being adjusted.
The "Artemis Program" envisions a Japanese astronaut landing on the moon, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology states that it has significance in gaining an international presence and strengthening US-Japan relations.
On the other hand, the International Space Station, which Japan has already spent more than 1 trillion yen, is expected to continue operation after 2025, and it is pointed out how Japan's manned space development will achieve results commensurate with the huge cost. It has been.