LNG

Dec 6 (LNGJ) - JGC Holdings Corp., one of the leading energy and LNG project engineering company, said its JGC Corp. unit for overseas engineering ventures has been selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for its proposal-based competitive-bidding project for a conceptual study of a Lunar In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Plant. The facility will be capable of extracting water from lunar soil (regolith) and produce liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which can be used as fuel for manned lunar landers and excursion vehicles or spacecraft.

   “Amid the currently accelerating global trend of lunar exploration, as exemplified by the Artemis program led by NASA, JAXA aims to realize the utilization of lunar water resources,” said JGC. “The scenario lays out JAXA's plans to study the concept of the entire system of a lunar ISRU plant along with element technologies and conduct ground demonstrations,” the Yokohama-based company explained. A Lunar demonstration plant is expected to be built in the 2030s and a full-scale launch of an operational ISRU plant is scheduled by 2040.

KBR, the US engineering company with a strong energy and LNG presence, has been awarded a master service agreement and feasibility study by Japanese resources company JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp.

Pivotal LNG, the US clean fuel supplier, has made its first delivery of liquefied natural gas to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) after earning the contract award to serve NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville in Alabama.