Photo/Illutration An all-metal tire for a lunar rover is tested on the Luna Terrace, part of the Tottori Sand Dunes, in Tottori in May. (Takayuki Seino)

TOTTORI—Space-related businesses hoping to do testing for a future lunar mission can do the next best thing back on Earth without rocketing to the moon.

Tottori Prefecture in western Japan is speeding toward its goal of becoming a center for the space industry, cashing in on the presence of a vast stretch of sand dunes that replicate the lunar surface in this city.

The prefecture opened what it calls the Luna Terrace, a sandy testing site, which local officials say resembles the lunar surface in terms of its size and consistency of grains of sand on its stark landscape.

Since opening the terrace in July last year, businesses and universities have utilized the site a dozen times. 

Tottori, the nation’s least-populated prefecture, touts a clear view of galaxies in its pristine night skies from anywhere within its jurisdiction due to fewer streetlights compared with other prefectures.

Drawing on its reputation linked to space, the prefectural government opened the terrace for research institutions working on space-related projects to conduct experiments or test prototypes there.

The space industry is deemed to hold great growth potential for the future.

Local officials are hoping that the site will propel the revitalization of the local economy.

The 0.5-hectare Luna Terrace is part of the famed Tottori Sand Dunes, but is located outside the San’in Kaigan National Park, where most of the sprawling dunes lie.

While natural resources within a national park come under strict regulations, the restrictions do not apply to the area beyond the park despite its proximity.

The terrace is divided into three zones: a level field, a slope and a parcel where users can drill or transform to suit their purpose.

The use of the site is free, but a user is obliged to return the land to its original state after completion.

Bridgestone Corp., a leading tire manufacturer in Tokyo, is one of the companies that carried out an experiment there. 

In late May, Bridgestone researchers tested an all-metal tire that the company has been developing for a lunar rover from five years ago.

Conventional rubber tires are thought to be of no use on the moon because of the extremely harsh conditions, such as sharp fluctuations in temperatures and intense space radiation hundreds of times stronger than on Earth.

The company’s second-generation “air-free” tire tested at the terrace has a metal spoke structure.

The structure was developed to extend the tire’s durability by securing large contact areas through optimization of the parts coming in contact with the lunar surface, including rocks, and minimizing the strain on the metal spokes.

Bridgestone officials cited two reasons for selecting the Luna Terrace for its test.

One is that the user can conduct various tests as they are allowed to transform the terrain to suit their experiments.

The other is that the sand is uniform in consistency across the site.

When the company began experiments on the tire for a lunar rover, it had used an off-road course or sandy beach in the Kanto region, close to the capital.

But researchers now travel to Tottori Prefecture.

“We intend to advance our technology by striving to make it applicable in an unusual and extreme environment like the moon,” a Bridgestone official said. “And we are hoping to incorporate the technology into the manufacturing of tires used on Earth.”

Some local companies contracted with Bridgestone have participated in the experiments.

According to the prefectural government, the terrace was used 12 times by 10 entities in fiscal 2023.

In the current fiscal year, two organizations utilized the site five times together by the end of August. Three more groups have booked the site for use.

The prefecture promoted the Luna Terrace by exhibiting its diorama during a recent event in Tokyo allowing for a simulated experience of being on the moon.

More events are planned to feature the site in its pitch to bring scientists involved in space projects.

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