Japan plans invest 200bn yen between now and 2020 to build a scientific research base on the moon and for other space-based missions.

Japanese lunar exploration will occur in two phases, with the first phase including sending a mobile robot to the moon by 2015.

The robot will send video images of the surface and conduct seismographic research of the moon’s composition.

During phase two, covering 2015-2020, the country plans to build a scientific research centre on the moon’s South Pole to study the surface within a 100km radius.