Toyota Motor plans to use regenerative fuel cell technology to power a manned lunar rover, company executives said Friday, while also discussing the prospect of using lunar ice as a future energy source.

Toyota’s announcement comes as Japan ramps up its space ambitions under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The island nation is participating in NASA’s Artemis program and plans to send an astronaut to the lunar Gateway space station in the second half of this decade.

Toyota has been working with the Japan Space Agency since 2019 to develop a manned lunar rover they’ve named the Lunar Cruiser, which they hope to land on the moon in 2029.

“To conduct long-term and stable studies of the lunar surface, we aim to install various elements over a long period of time,” said Ken Yamashita, head of lunar exploration projects at Toyota.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said in presentation materials on Friday that NASA expects Japan to provide a lunar rover with a launch date of 2029 as a contribution to the Artemis program.

A fuel cell car uses an electric motor like an electric car, but gets its energy from a fuel cell where hydrogen is separated by a catalyst to produce electricity.

What are Toyota’s plans for its lunar rover?

Toyota said its technology would use solar energy and water to produce hydrogen and oxygen through electrolysis during the day, while fuel cells would provide electricity at night.

A lunar night lasts about 14 Earth days, so using this technology, the moonwalker can operate for many days at a time, including when it’s dark and very cold.

The Japanese company, the world’s largest automaker by the number of cars sold, hopes to receive an order for a manned lunar rover by the fall of next year. The vehicle is expected to be able to carry two astronauts for 42 days a year on missions and operate for 10 years.

“Our idea is to continue using the rover after these 10 years are over if there is a company or an agreement that can provide the water needed for that,” Yamashita said, adding that clean water must first be sent into space with the rover.

Toyota doesn’t expect to be able to produce usable water for fuel cells from lunar ice or mine it on its own, and Yamashita says that will likely depend on other companies or future developments.