U.S. Manned Spacecraft: A Step toward 1st Lunar Landing in Half a Century

Editorial

14:29 JST, April 3, 2026

The last time humans set foot on the moon was in 1972. Roughly half a century later, humanity is once again setting its sights on the moon.

As part of the Artemis program for crewed lunar exploration, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration has launched an Orion spacecraft from the U.S. state of Florida, carrying four astronauts from the United States and another country.

On this mission, the spacecraft will fly around the moon and return to Earth in about 10 days without landing on the lunar surface. Even so, this marks the first time in half a century — since the United States’ Apollo program in the 1960s and 1970s — that humans have reached lunar orbit. It will be a major step toward humanity setting foot on the moon once again.

A round-trip to the moon, located 400,000 kilometers from Earth, is far more difficult than traveling to the International Space Station, which orbits 400 kilometers above Earth. In 2022, an Orion successfully completed an unmanned lunar orbit. It is hoped that this crewed mission will be successful.

The Apollo program was a monumental achievement by the United States on which it staked its national prestige against the background of the Cold War with the former Soviet Union. Between 1969 and 1972, a total of 12 astronauts landed on the moon.

However, since then, the focus of space development has shifted to the ISS in Earth’s orbit, with the United States and Russia leading the way. It can be said that the motivation to go to the moon, considering the massive budgets and the risk to astronauts’ lives, has waned.

A resurgence of momentum to reach the moon in recent years is largely due to China’s rapid advancement in lunar exploration, positioning Beijing as a threat to the United States.

In 2019, China became the first country to land an unmanned probe on the far side of the moon. It aims to land humans there by 2030. Since the moon is believed to contain underground resources such as water, conflicts of interest among nations are anticipated in the future.

Under the Artemis program, the United States likely intends to gain an advantage regarding the future development of the lunar surface by landing astronauts on the moon as early as 2028 — ahead of China.

The declining costs of space development due to the entry of startups will also serve as a tailwind. As the space-related market is expected to continue growing significantly going forward, countries are actively supporting their own space industries.

While past U.S. administrations have wavered over such issues as whether to prioritize exploration of the moon or Mars, U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has so far shown a positive stance toward lunar exploration.

Japan possesses advanced technology in the development of equipment essential for lunar exploration, such as lunar rovers and life support systems. It should continue to steadily pursue development and simultaneously establish a system capable of sending Japanese astronauts to the moon at any time.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, April 3, 2026)