Beijing, August 19, Science and Technology Daily (Reporter Liu Xia) according to a recent report on the website of the Japan Times, start-ups from Japan and Israel have signed an agreement to jointly carry out an experimental project to produce oxygen on the moon. If the project is successful, it will not only reduce the cost of space exploration, but also help to establish a permanent base on the moon.
Under the agreement, Israel's Helios Project Co., Ltd. will conduct a demonstration experiment to extract oxygen by melting lunar soil at high temperatures and electrolyzing it. The Japanese company Ispace is responsible for transporting Israeli experimental equipment to the moon twice between 2023 and 2025.
"We are very interested in Helios's technology, and I believe our collaboration will stimulate more players to enter the field of lunar exploration," said Ken Sakata, chief executive of Ispace.
Jonathan Gefman, chief executive of Helios, says extracting oxygen from lunar soil is crucial to future human activities on the moon.
Helios has been developing a reactor that can process lunar soil to extract oxygen and metals such as iron, aluminum and silicon, so that lunar colonists can be "self-sufficient", the company said on its website. They estimate that 250 kilograms of oxygen can be extracted from one ton of lunar soil. In addition, they are currently studying the use of the reactor to treat Martian soil.
In 2023, Ispace will use SpaceX rockets to launch a lunar lander from the United States to deliver equipment to customers, including the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Ispace is also involved in NASA's lunar exploration program, collecting samples from the lunar surface. It aims to be the first Japanese private company to land on the moon.