The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has compiled a long-term space exploration program that calls for launching a domestically designed manned spacecraft to the moon within the next 20 years, JAXA officials said Wednesday.
Under the program, JAXA will complete a rocket for human spaceflight within 10 years based on the technologies being developed for the domestically made H-IIA rocket.
The government-affiliated agency will then design a reusable manned space vehicle by 2025 that incorporates the same technologies as an unmanned transfer vehicle used for ferrying cargo to space stations. The vehicle is already under development.
The exploration program is the first JAXA has compiled and will require a significant increase in budget.
The plan also envisions the construction of an international manned space station 20 years from now using Japanese robot technologies.
Japan successfully launched its seventh H-IIA rocket in late February after destroying one on purpose on Nov. 29, 2003, when one of its two boosters failed to disengage.