TOKYO - Japan Airlines Co. said Tuesday it will launch a service to transport items of cultural significance to the Moon, citing the risks of losing them amid climate change, large natural disasters and conflicts.
Under an agreement between JAL group trading house Jalux Inc. and startup ispace Inc., the ARGO Trans-Lunar Heritage Project would carry payloads such as regional specialties and companies' signature products, with applications for transport slots to begin Wednesday.
If the project is realized, JAL would become the world's first airline to transport items to the Moon.
The service will use a lunar lander planned to be launched by ispace in 2028 to carry such items in special boxes capable of withstanding and storing the items in the lunar environment.
The boxes will measure about 20 centimeters in length and width and roughly 10 cm in height, with the interior divided into segments.
In a joint press release, the three companies said they aim to preserve and pass on valuable cultural assets by storing them outside Earth so that they can be accessed by the future generations.
The project comes amid growing expansion of Japan's space business sector driven partly by declining launch costs.
Yosuke Enomoto, a senior manager at PwC Consulting LLC, who is well-versed on space business, said, "Companies that have not been engaged in space are seeking to gain business opportunities by leveraging their own technologies."
However, he noted that space trips remain expensive for general consumers, saying that for such travels to become widespread, there is a need to ensure safety and technological advances to enable further cost reductions.
