Japan Airlines wants to blast human culture into space and land it on the moon

The carrier is selling payload space to preserve Earth’s heritage from climate change and war, but sceptics dismiss it as a PR stunt

A partnership between Japan Airlines and a space start-up marks the first step for the carrier to explore diversification beyond Earth-bound aviation, potentially boosting Japan’s ambition to expand its footprint on the moon.

The airline is teaming up with ispace to transport items of “precious cultural heritage and human activities” via a lander craft to the moon and protect them from the effects of climate change, natural disasters and conflict on Earth.

“In the rapidly changing world, there is a constant risk that precious cultural artefacts and ways of life could be suddenly lost. The lunar environment offers a location to protect and preserve these valuable cultural assets until the day they are opened by future generations,” Japan Airlines said in a statement.

Industry analysts see the ARGO Trans-Lunar Heritage Project as the airline’s first small step towards making its presence felt in the space sector.

“I see this as a diversification away from the purely commercial aviation space for the airline, and we have seen other companies pursue similar strategies with advanced mobility and other projects,” said Toshimitsu Sogabe, an aviation industry analyst in Tokyo-based Cirium Ascend Consultancy.

“The commercial aviation industry is going through a bit of a tough time at the moment, and there’s a lot of uncertainty around, so it makes sense for airlines to be diversifying.”