News
Japan’s first industry-government-academia collaborative lunar exploration mission, has kicked off To map water energy resources on the moon’s surface layers using terahertz waves
Tokyo – Space BD, a leading Japanese space startup, announces that Space BD has signed a contract with the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) regarding exploring water energy resources over a wide area on the moon’s surface layers using terahertz waves. Space BD has kicked off the joint project TSUKIMI with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT); the Department of Systems Innovations, School of Engineering, University of Tokyo; Osaka Prefecture University; and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
In this project, Space BD is in charge of satellite integration management, including hardware procurement and development based on our engineering capability and past astonishing achievements in Japanese space industry as private sector.
■ Overview of the TSUKIMI Project
MIC has established the Master Plan for Wide-Area Exploration of Water Energy Resources on the Moon Using Terahertz Waves for Japan to strengthen the strategic use of the moon in the field of Information and Communication Technology.
The TSUKIMI Project also aims to contribute to Japan’s sustainable space science exploration and economic activity on the moon. The Lunar Science and Lunar Resources Engineering Consortium*will be formed as a framework for pursuing model cases for business.
Mission website (Japanese only)
https://www.tsukimi.one
■About the project name
TSUKIMI comes from Lunar Terahertz SUrveyor for KIlometer-scale MappIng. Tsukimi also means “moon viewing” in Japanese.
■About Space BD
Space BD aims to be a company that represents Japan and develops a world-class industry. Since our foundation in 2017, Space BD has provided a one-stop service from proposing business plans to providing engineering support regarding space utilization, including the International Space Station (ISS).
Space BD promotes the industrialization of space by providing comprehensive services with both business development and technical aspects for all those who want to utilize space.
Introductory video: https://youtu.be/lRAHkUImAlE