A4CSEL for
Space
Toward reaching our next goal:
“The next site is space.”
“The next site is in space.” is the slogan of an advertisement produced by Kajima in 2016.
Since 2016, Kajima has been involved in a joint research project
with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center
to apply A4CSEL technology for constructing a lunar base.
Advertisement for “The next stage ;Space.”
To construct a lunar base by applying A4CSEL
As for the construction of facilities on the Moon, the concept of “remote construction”—in which construction machinery is operated remotely from Earth or a space station—was envisioned. However, a major problem with this concept was that time delays caused by long-distance communications would greatly reduce the efficiency of construction. As a result of joint research with JAXA, which has been studying the applicability of automated construction technology to this problem, in March 2019, we conducted an experiment at the Seisho Experimental Field, an experimental facility owned by Kajima in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, on the feasibility of using multiple types of automated construction machinery to install a model of a habitation module envisioned as an early manned lunar-exploration facility. On demonstrating the feasibility of such lunar construction utilizing A4CSEL, this experiment attracted worldwide attention.
An automated backhoe loads soil and sand
into an automated carrier dump truck
The automated backhoe covers
a module simulating a lunar-base facility with the lunar soil (regolith)
Steps in the construction of a manned base
by unmanned construction machinery on the moon
1. Land preparation
2. Excavation
3. Installation of residential modules
4. Covering with lunar soil (regolith)
JAXA/Kajima Joint Research: The LUNAR BASE (video: 4min37s)
（Narration is in Japanese and caption is in English）
Successful “ultra-tele construction” experiment assumed construction machinery
on the Moon would be operated from the Earth.
In March 2021, we conducted a remote construction experiment aimed at remote control and automatic operation of construction machinery on the Moon. We conducted the experiment to evaluate the efficiency of “remote construction” using a combination of remote operation and automated construction (using automated vibratory rollers) for construction work at the Tanegashima Space Center controlled from JAXA’s Sagamihara Campus, approximately 1000 km away. We confirmed that high construction efficiency could be achieved by (i) artificially inserting communication delays (representing those between the earth and the moon) during remote operation, (ii) proceeding to the construction area by avoiding obstacles on the lunar surface that were difficult to foresee in our preliminary survey, and (iii) working by automatic operation within the area. The results of this application of A4CSEL will lead to the implementation of “remote construction” of lunar base.
Construction machinery operating on Tanegashima Island, 1000 km away from JAXA’s Sagamihara Campus.
JAXA/Kajima Joint Research:
“Toward Remote Control and Automatic Operation of Construction Machinery on the Moon” (video: 4min)
(in Japanese)
A4CSEL was selected for a space project of MLIT.
In November 2021, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) announced ten initiatives to be commissioned to private companies under its “Space Unmanned Construction Innovative Technology Development Promotion Project,” and the theme utilizing Kajima’s A4CSEL was selected as an R&D proposal. Accompanying the advancement of construction projects, this project aims to expand to construction activities on the moon and other space exploration in the near future. In particular, Kajima plans to develop simulation technology to reproduce lunar-surface operations in a virtual space and thereby find operation methods that match the site conditions on the moon and other locations. The day when A4CSEL is active in space is approaching.
