The Moon has been stimulating scientist's interests as the most familiar planetary body in the solar system. Since 1950's, the Moon has been explored repeatedly by unmanned and manned mission. Especially the Apollo and Luna programs had provided a lot of new findings about the Moon. However, the most basic question in lunar science concerning the origin and early evolution of the Moon is still left open. The exploration of the Moon is particularly important in planetary science because it is directly related to the origin and evolution of the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
On the other hand, the Moon is regarded as an initial base for humankind's expansion into space. The lunar base will play an important role in construction of Solar Power Satellites and Space Colonies. It will be also used for a space port for Mars and other planetary exploration.
After 25 years since the Apollo program, there has been an international movement for returning to the Moon. The motivation comes from the an expectation of utilization of the Moon in the near future as well as from the scientific interests in the origin and evolution of the Moon. A lot of explorers have been sent to the Moon since early 1990's. One of them, but the largest spacecraft after the Apollo project, was
"KAGUYA"
launched in 2007. It obtained a huge amount of scientific data to study the lunar origin and evolution, and to explore the possibility of the future utilization of the Moon. It also verified the technologies for the next-step lunar exploration.
Lunar exploration in Japan used to be national projects for science and technology, but now a wide range of people, including people in industry, are promoting lunar exploration.
Future lunar exploration projects
are now in progress in Japan, USA, ESA, Russia, China, and India. These projects will significantly contribute to progress in lunar development.