After the U.S. government refused from funding the lunar program, conquering the moon was continued by Japan. The project was proposed by the Japanese space agency JAXA for a long time, but only recently the funding of this project was officially approved by the Government of Japan. It worth $ 2.2 billion. As part of this project in 2015 a spacecraft will go to the moon with descent module that will take humanoid robots on the surface of the moon. They will be engaged in construction work. According to plans, construction and equipping of this station must be fully completed by 2020.
Robots that will be sent first to the moon in 2015, will be large (300 kg) vehicles equipped with crawler system of movement, solar panels and some scientific instruments such as seismographs, video camera and equipment for the collection and analysis of lunar rocks and soil. Manipulators like human hands will be installed on these robots; they will carry out construction work and collect rock samples for researchers on Earth. Primarily, the management of these robots will be carried out by orders transmitted from Earth, but at the same time own computer control systems of these robots will be able to make decisions and perform several tasks independently.
At first, robots that sent to the moon will make exploration; find a suitable from all points of view place for a future base, that will be built in the South Pole of the Moon presumably. After completion of this phase, robot-builders and materials necessary for construction will be sent to the moon. New lunar base will be powered by solar panels, and will become a platform for new buildings and facilities for the living and working of scientists, subsequently.
