Science & Exploration
20/03/2025 5views 0likes
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are taking a step forward in space exploration cooperation for Moon and Mars activities. Both agencies have signed a statement of intent, laying the groundwork for expanded collaboration between the two agencies in advancing science, technology and international partnerships.
ESA and JAXA share a common vision for exploration, including:
Advancing our understanding of the Moon, Mars and other celestial bodies,
Developing and demonstrating key technologies for sustainable exploration,
Coordinating scientific investigations,
Inspiring future generations through ambitious and innovative missions.
Destinations of ESA's Terrae Novae vision
This collaboration aligns with ESA’s Explore2040 vision for future space exploration, strengthening existing cooperations and fostering new partnerships. The statement of intent builds on a series of agreements between ESA and JAXA, including a joint statement on “Next Big Cooperations” in 2024 and the 2023 Lunar Communication and Navigation study agreement as part of ESA’s Moonlight programme.
“ESA and JAXA share a long-standing commitment to exploration. This new statement marks another milestone as we join forces to unlock the mysteries of the Moon and Mars together,” says Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration.
Exploring the Moon
The LUNA facility at ESA's European Astronaut Centre near Cologne, Germany
The statement of intent highlights many opportunities for collaboration in exploring the Moon:
Joint studies on lunar surface operations, focusing on how ESA’s Argonaut lander and JAXA’s pressurised rover can work together within the Artemis framework, with potential extra-vehicular activity (EVA) demonstrations at ESA’s LUNA facility.
Cooperation on robotic missions, such as flying ESA payloads on JAXA’s lunar missions, for example the positioning, navigation and timing receiver LunaNET, or including Japanese scientific investigations on ESA’s Argonaut or other small lunar projects, and exploring commercial mission opportunities.
Developing technological synergies in power systems, communication and navigation, robots and working on interoperability at system and sub-system levels.
Defining a joint mission to demonstrate LunaNET’s capabilities, alongside collaborative global navigation satellite system (GNSS) data analysis of ESA’s Lunar Pathfinder mission.
Exploring Mars
LightShip, ESA's martin tug
For Mars activities, ESA and JAXA will explore:
Working together on orbital transfer vehicles, including possible JAXA involvement in ESA’s LightShip tug vehicle or other Mars orbital transfer concepts.
A future sample return mission from Deimos, one of Mars’ moons, in the 2030s.
Developing and sharing infrastructure for communications and navigations services to support Mars exploration.
Exchange of payloads for ESA and JAXA Mars missions, focusing on areas such as heavy cargo and precision landing, and a sample return from Deimos.
Next steps
Technical teams from ESA and JAXA will begin working closely to define their roles and how they’ll work together; exchanging detailed data will be key to ensuring a seamless cooperation. Once these are in place, and pending further approval and funding, more formal agreements between the two agencies will be established.
“Together, we are laying the foundation for the next chapter of human and robotic exploration,” says Mayumi Matsuura, Vice President for Exploration and Human Spaceflight at JAXA.
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