Two Japanese companies have joined forces to achieve an ambitious goal: producing hydrogen on the moon.
Takasago Thermal Engineering designed a micro-electrolyser that can adapt to low gravity and withstand the intense vibrations during rocket liftoff. Once in space, the hydrogen-making machine will be operated remotely from the ispace mission control center in Tokyo.
Hiroyuki Muraoka of Takasago Thermal Energy said: “We started working on hydrogen about 20 years ago. Now, we are developing a large-scale electrolyser. What we do in space will provide us with clear technology and skills to… Stand out from your competitors.
For the mission, scheduled to launch in late 2024, Takasago will carry a small amount of Earth’s water for electrolysis. If the experiment goes as planned, the company will scale it up and eventually produce hydrogen from lunar water on subsequent missions.
“The most difficult thing is adapting to the low gravity. On the moon, gravity is one-sixth that of Earth,” said Atsushi Kato, manager of Takasago Thermal Engineering Company.
“This was an experimental mission. Once we got the data, we started thinking, not only about ourselves, but also about the companies that were interested in doing business with us,” Muraoka said.
The electrolyser will be aboard ispace’s lander, an improved version of the company’s first model that took off in 2022 but failed to land on the moon. The lander will also carry a rover that will explore the lunar surface and collect data and will provide solar power for the electrolyser.
ispace chief technology officer said: “We have just completed all final system and environmental testing. All payloads are also ready to roll. We carefully selected the landing site to avoid similar problems in Mission 2. Of course, we also improved Our software.
If the mission is successful, it will lay the foundation for using hydrogen as a propellant for spacecraft and expand opportunities for space exploration.
“If we build a lunar gas station, we can live very far away like we do on places like Mars,” Ujjay said.
Mission 2 is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX rocket in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Watch the video above for a closer look at the mini-electrolyser that will land on the moon later this year.
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