ANKARA

Japan is likely to send its first-ever astronaut to the moon under a US-led lunar exploration program, Tokyo-based Kyodo news agency reported on Sunday.

Washington and Tokyo are making final arrangements to land a Japanese astronaut on the moon's surface for the first time, the agency reported citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

The Artemis program aims to send US astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in over half a century by 2025 at the earliest, and a "Japanese astronaut may be among the next to land on the Earth's satellite," it said.

The two countries are also discussing putting a second Japanese astronaut on the moon and are expected to finalize a plan as soon as next month, according to the news agency.

Aside from returning humans to the moon and advancing lunar exploration, the ultimate goal of the Artemis program is to explore Mars.

US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday that Washington intends to have an international astronaut accompany US astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2029, although she did not say from which country the envisaged individual might be selected.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday confirmed at a meeting of the Strategic Headquarters for Space Development that the two countries were accelerating discussions.

Japan will be responsible for transporting materials, as well as developing a lunar rover that can be driven without a spacesuit, apart from participating in the construction of Gateway, a lunar-orbiting outpost planned under the Artemis program.