Russia, Japan join hands for lunar robot

Russian and Japanese companies are planning to jointly design a robot to operate on the lunar surface next year.

Russia's Tass News Agency reported that Android Technology Company from Russia and Japan's GITAI reached a tentative agreement when the Japanese company's representatives visited Russia last week.

"Colleagues from Japan are thinking in approximately the same direction as we do, eyeing step-by-step design of robotic systems to explore the near and far space," said Yevgeny Dudorov, executive director of Android Technology.

"We both identify the moon－or, in other words, robotic systems that could function and perform tasks on the moon surface－as our primary target," he said.

According to Dudorov, GITAI specializes in anthropomorphic robots and uses controllers similar to those developed by Android Technology.

The device allows one to operate robots in the "avatar" mode, during which it would mimic the actions of a human controller to perform certain manipulations.

"We will sign a cooperation agreement. Later, we will outline joint plans for 2020, 2021 and later," Dudorov said, adding that the deal with Japan would be signed soon.

National level

Once the project is a success, the two companies will present their developments to their national space agencies－Russia's Roscosmos and Japan's JAXA.

"We also discussed the possibility of GITAI's use of engines that we produce. They have examined the materials and will probably use our electric engines to power their robotic systems," Dudorov said.

Japan is a leader in aerospace robot design, and its first lunar rover will be sent to the moon's surface in July 2021.

The tiny wheeled robot named Yaoki will be sent on a mission sponsored by NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Service program.

Russia has restarted its research on lunar exploration in the recent years, and Roscosmos set out a plan to establish a lunar base, as the country aims to land on the moon's surface within the next two decades.

The project will be larger than the US Apollo program, Russian news channel RT reported. The Apollo program landed astronauts on the moon in the 1960s and early 1970s across a series of missions.

According to Roscosmos, the system used to manage the long-term base will involve humans on Earth operating robot avatars on the moon.