Japan moves in on hidden $4trillion energy source on the Moon as space race against US and China escalates
THE future lunar mining industry will be a trillion-dollar business - and Japan wants a slice of the big cheese.
The Moon is believed to have between one and three million tons of a rare gas known as Helium-3 - enough to power Earth for the next 10,000 years.
Japanese lunar exploration company ispace has partnered with lunar extraction firm Magna Petra to harvest Helium-3 on the Moon and deliver it back to Earth.
“The cislunar economy will be dependent on many important resources other than water," Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace, said in a statement. "And it is important to work to make use of these resources."
The precious gas is in short supply on Earth, accounting for about 0.0001% of helium on the planet.
It is thought to be hidden in 'cold traps' on the Moon's outer layers of regolith making it relatively easy to extract.
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Helium-3 can be used in nuclear fusion - a near limitless energy source - without releasing any of the dangerous radioactive waste.
Just one gram of Helium-3 would cost about $1,400, according to the Lunar and Planetary Institute, a research organisation founded in 1978.
That means one ton would be worth around $1.26billion - and three million tons would be worth $3.78trillion.
In a joint statement, ispace and Magna Petra said they would harvest the material in a "non-destructive, sustainable" way.
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However, researchers have voiced concern over a lunar landgrab, as the US and China also turn their attention to precious materials.
“We are at risk of a Wild West scenario due to the rivalries between competing space agencies and commercial interests,” Joseph Silk, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University and the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, told earlier this year.
“The number of desirable lunar sites is limited.”
The lunar south pole, scientists believe, is one of the Moon's most resource-dense areas.
It is also the most promising location for water-based ice, which will be key to future human habitation on the Moon.
The US and China are both vying to be the first to ship astronauts to the Moon - a feat that hasn't been achieved since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Nasa is currently scheduled to land Artemis III astronauts on the lunar south pole in mid-2027, following a string of delays.
China, however, plans to ferry its own astronauts to the Moon's most southernly point in 2030.
ANALYSIS: Are we in a new space race?
By Millie Turner, Senior Technology & Science Reporter
Visions of humans on the Moon once more has sparked a renaissance for the space race of the 1960s.
While China has replaced the Soviet Union in this iteration, it is once again the US going toe-to-toe with whichever global superpower is brazen enough for the challenge.
The pair are already locked into an Earth-bound tech war, with fist-shaking over computer chips, AI and TikTok, which has somehow erupted into a race for the stars.
Nasa boss Bill Nelson hasn't shied away from calling it a "race", either.
Under President Xi Jinping, China spent roughly $14billion (£11.2billion) on its ambitious space programme in 2023, according to Statista.
The US space agency has dominated the industry so far, though has only recently swallowed the bitter pill of scrapping the Viper Moon mission after $450million had already been spent, citing spiralling costs and delays.
Nasa’s own Mars Sample Return has also been subject to pushbacks, as the mission timeline falls back into the 2040s from its original 2028 launch date.
China’s knack for building things fast, and well, could tip the scales – effects of which we might be seeing in real-time, as the country looks set to beat Nasa to Mars.
Though I have no doubt that date will be revised at some point in the future.