Japan plans to build a plant on the moon to produce hydrogen fuel

As the Japanese space agency said, starting in the mid-2030s, they have plans to tackle the study of the lunar surface, and for these purposes it is planned to build a plant on the moon for the production hydrogen fuel.

In this case, the fuel produced on the Moon will be used to move spacecraft both on the surface and in the orbit of the Moon.

Why do you need a plant on the moon

It would be quite logical to ask the question: Why do we need a plant on our satellite at all? So this is how the construction of the plant is expected and the use of the produced hydrogen fuel on it will greatly reduce costs compared to delivering fuel directly from Earth.

Of course, there is simply no water in liquid form on the Moon, but there is an assumption based on past research that in the crater, which located near the south pole of the moon, there may be ice that has not been exposed to sunlight even once in all time.

Joint research and plans for the future

Of course, Japan will not participate in such an ambitious project alone. It is planned that, by joint efforts with American colleagues, an orbital Gateway station approximately in the 2020s and by 2035 to complete the construction of the plant, already on the surface The moon.

The fuel produced will primarily be needed to operate the reusable spacecraft to transport astronauts from the space station to the surface and back. And also for the operation of the lunar transport, which will be used to study the satellite.

How much water is needed for work

JAXA has already calculated that only one flight from the station to the surface will require about 37 tons of water, and about 21 tons of water will be required for surface exploration. So the real sense from the construction of the plant will be visible if from 5 to 7 real manned research expeditions are made.

If there are fewer expeditions, then it will not be economically profitable to build a plant on the Moon. Other countries such as India and the USA are also planning to explore the water resources here.

And China has already landed an unmanned ship on the surface, and a special umbrella will be sent to collect soil samples by the end of the year.

So as it was sung in the song: "... and on Mars there will be apple trees, flowers, but everything will start from the moon ..." I liked the material, then put our thumbs up and subscribe. Thank you for your attention!