JGC Holdings Corporation has announced that overseas EPC operating company JGC Corporation was selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in bidding for preliminary design and breadboard development, testing, and other tasks for a terrestrial pilot plant for a future lunar ISRU plant¹ on July 2^nd, 2025.

As the U.S. Artemis program and others continue to show the faster pace of lunar development projects around the world, Japan's scenario for space exploration² drafted by JAXA in 2021 envisions a conceptual study of an entire lunar ISRU system, a study of the essential technologies, and terrestrial verification within this decade, followed by the start of preliminary site surveys (geotechnical investigation and measurement) and lunar pilot plant construction in the 2030s and full-scale plant operation by 2040 in anticipation of using water resources on the lunar surface. Bids for the current project in this context were solicited by JAXA in May of this year.

JGC Corporation will mainly participate in two ways, with results presented to JAXA by March 31, 2026.

1. 1. Preliminary design of a pilot plant on Earth
2. ・Study of pilot plant details such as system specifications and development plans; study of the terrestrial testing environment; technical assistance in joint study with NASA
   
   

2. 2. Breadboard development/testing and other work related to water extraction
3. ・Identification of technical issues in water extraction; study of subsequent demonstration plans
4. ・Experiments involving water extraction from hydrous lunar soil (regolith)
   
   

For more than 90 years since the company was established, the JGC Group has been involved in plant and facility EPC in many fields from energy to social and industrial infrastructure. Over this time, the Group has completed more than 20,000 projects in an array of environments including deserts, jungles, the far north, and offshore. From the 1980s to the early 2000s, JGC also engaged in space business that extended to providing services for microgravity environments on space stations and related safety and QA analysis.

Having taken the initiative in studying space business and lunar development since 2018, JGC Corporation was commissioned by JAXA in fiscal 2024 to provide conceptual design of a ground-based pilot plant. These and other projects listed below represent steady progress and achievements in developing a lunar ISRU plant. The newly commissioned study will apply these results in examining the feasibility of a lunar plant for propellant.

Progress toward establishing a lunar ISRU plant

- 2018: Start of internal efforts to study space business

- December 2020: Lunar Plant Unit formed to study feasibility of developing infrastructure, including lunar plants to supply hydrogen as a fuel

- June 2021: Cooperative agreement concluded with JAXA on conceptual study of a lunar ISRU plant. A conceptual study on a lunar ISRU plant using lunar water resources was conducted over roughly the next two years, as the required technological elements and research agendas were identified and a development plan considered.

- December 2023: JGC selected for a JAXA project on the conceptual study of a pilot plant intended to enable a lunar ISRU plant.³ The study was conducted along with other work including demonstration planning.

- November 2024: JGC selected for a JAXA project on conceptual study and breadboard development/testing of a terrestrial pilot plant for a future lunar ISRU plant.⁴ The study was conducted along with other work including water extraction experiments.

JGC Corporation will apply engineering technologies, project execution capabilities, and other expertise and experience to support sustainable human activity in space through this project.

• ^*1A facility to extract water from lunar soil (regolith) and produce liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for use as fuel for manned lunar landers and excursion vehicles
• ^*2

  URL (in Japanese):

  https://www.exploration.jaxa.jp/assets/img/news/pdf/scenario/2021/Scenario2021.pdf

• ^*3JGC Holdings FY2023 press release: JGC Selected for the JAXA Project "Conceptual Study of a Pilot Plant toward the Realization of a Lunar ISRU Plant" (https://www.jgc.com/en/news/2023/20231206.html)
  ^*3*3*3*3*3
• ^*4JGC Holdings FY2024 press release: JGC Selected for a JAXA Project on Conceptual Study and Breadboard Development/Testing of a Terrestrial Pilot Plant for a Future Lunar ISRU Plant (https://www.jgc.com/en/news/2024/20241106.html)

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