Japan's Sankei Shimbun reported recently that the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to build a fuel plant on the lunar surface by the mid-2030s in an effort to achieve the goal of large-scale lunar exploration. Japan hopes to use the water on the lunar surface to make hydrogen fuel to obtain the power needed to travel to and from space bases and to move on the moon's surface. The goal is to reduce the time and cost of transporting fuel from earth. Japan will work with the United States to build the GATEWAY, a space station orbiting the moon, in the 2020s, the report said. A factory could then be built around 2035 at the south pole of the moon, where ice is reported to exist, and use solar cells to split the water into hydrogen and oxygen for fuel. Hydrogen and oxygen produced in fuel factory will release energy as they react and re-liquefy into water. According to the plan, astronauts including the Japanese could move up to 1,000 kilometers on the surface of the moon. According to the calculations of the JAXA, 37 tons of water is needed for one take-off and landing on the lunar surface and 21 tons for one movement on the lunar surface. If the water obtained on the moon is used for 5 to 7 lunar surface explorations, it will be cheaper than transporting water from the earth. Previous surveys over the moon show that water and ice exist in areas of the depression near the south pole of the moon that are not exposed to the sun. If it can be used as drinking water and fuel, it is said to be promising to accelerate space development.