TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Major general contractors in Japan are getting behind space development as they eye the Artemis lunar exploration project, which envisions the construction of a permanent base on the Moon for human activity.

Japanese companies are scrambling to enhance autonomous technologies they have developed in disaster response and other fields in hopes of using them to help construct a base for operations and scientific research on the Moon. Some of the futuristic concepts stretch the imagination.

Artemis, the first lunar exploration project since the U.S. Apollo program, is being led by the United States, while Japan will also participate, along with Britain, Canada and other countries.

The Artemis I mission, with robots and mannequins aboard, launched in November 2022, and as of January 2025, the Artemis II crewed mission was scheduled for April 2026 for a flyby of the Moon.

Japan's Taisei Corp. is developing unique technologies focused on the bumpy surface of the Moon, involving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's lunar mapping technology.

With gravity of one-sixth that of the Earth's, extreme temperature fluctuations between day and night and high radiation levels, the lunar surface is an unforgiving environment for human activity, making special construction techniques essential.

At this point, it is unclear whether Japanese companies such as Taisei will be involved in the Moon base construction, but it has not stopped the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and others from supporting the development of such technology.

"Japan is ahead of other countries in research on autonomous construction on the Moon, and we are in a good position to take advantage of this opportunity," said one ministry official.

The Japanese government, meanwhile, is pushing for such autonomous technology to support the domestic workforce as well, which is suffering from critical labor shortages due to the country's declining population.

Taisei has built an autonomous vehicle that would be equipped with a NASA device called the 3D-LiDar, using laser light to measure the distances between objects to determine the terrain while mapping the Moon's surface.

The vehicle is being tested in Mie Prefecture in central Japan to explore technologies for accurately moving between multiple locations on the Moon in an environment where satellite positioning systems are not available. There are no structures or other landmarks required by 3D-LiDar on the Moon.

The company says that like the reading of a person's fingerprint, it can apply a detailed analysis of ground elevation levels caused by sand, rock and other materials found on the Moon's surface. It honed the technology at the Tottori Sand Dunes test site in western Japan, which provides an environment similar to the Moon's surface.

Industry peer Kajima Corp., known for the world's first effort to construct a dam using fully automated construction equipment, is aiming to transfer its technology to space development.

System construction built on experiences from a dam project in Akita Prefecture in northeastern Japan is underway to simulate automated construction on the Moon's surface.

Kajima also envisions a concept that appears to come straight out of science fiction -- artificial gravity residential facilities featuring trees, parks and roads on the Moon.

Dubbed "Lunar Glass," the giant living complexes that would be built on polar regions of the Moon would artificially generate gravity by spinning like a toy top, enabling inhabitants inside the cylindrical structures to live life as they would on Earth.

The project imagines birds, rivers, cars and boats on artificial oceans in a reduced ecosystem -- all held together in the lunar glass by its rotation. An artificial gravity transport system would allow interplanetary travel between the Moon, Earth and eventually Mars.

Because spending prolonged periods in low gravity has adverse health effects, an official of the project said Kajima is "out to prove that Japan has the leading technology for this in the world."

Japanese general contractors' space research efforts date back to the 1980s, when the United States was planning the International Space Station.

Obayashi Corp., which built the Tokyo Skytree in Tokyo's Sumida Ward, is a pioneer.

In 2012, when the Skytree opened, it unveiled its vision of the next "ultimate tower" with a "space elevator" that would travel like a train, connecting ground and space via cables.

Shimizu Corp., another pioneer in this field, aims to build a more advanced autonomous construction system using artificial intelligence.

The company is also researching a foldable lunar habitat to reduce the cost of transporting materials to the Moon.

The Artemis missions will strive to bring supplies from Gateway, a space station to be assembled in lunar orbit, to the base on the Moon while establishing a human presence, operations for scientific research and creation of an economic zone. The U.S. and Japanese governments have also agreed to send two Japanese astronauts for lunar landings.

Artemis was the name of a Greek goddess who became associated with the Moon, twin to Apollo, who was associated with the Sun. It is hoped the establishment of a permanent human presence on the Moon will pave the way for future human missions to Mars.

(By Shoichiro Takaji)