Japan is ready to support the United States’ lower-cost lunar missions, its space agency chief said on Friday, after the U.S. administration proposed a $6 billion cut to NASA’s budget that could upend the Artemis programme to return people to the moon.
The US-led Artemis project aims to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972 and has grown into a multibillion-dollar project with partners including Japan, the European Space Agency (ESA), and Canada. However, the Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal would almost halve NASA’s space science budget and shift focus to Mars.
Japan signed an agreement with NASA last year to include two Japanese astronauts and a Toyota-made rover in future missions to the lunar surface. JAXA has jointly built a Gateway human habitation module with ESA and intended to use its cargo spacecraft HTV-X to resupply the station.
Despite the budget proposal, JAXA’s President Hiroshi Yamakawa expressed his commitment to supporting US lunar missions. “If the US were considering a better alternative in terms of budget or economics, we must respond to it,” he said.
JAXA can offer resupply capabilities, high-precision landing technology, and lunar data to the US and other international partners, according to Yamakawa. The agency is willing to engage in dialogues with US counterparts to strengthen mutually-beneficial space cooperation.
The US-China space rivalry has intensified, with both countries courting partner countries and private companies for their moon exploration, space station, and satellite programmes. Analysts believe that the US would likely work together with Japan and Europe to find a solution that allows all parties to save face, even if the Artemis programme is scaled back.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/science/japan-remains-committed-moon-missions-trump-cuts-nasa-budget-jaxa-chief-says-2025-05-16