Advertising on the Moon - Broadcasting to 100% of Humanity with Satellite Projection Mapping [1/2]

While we usually bring news on Japanese pop culture, such as anime, manga, and other otaku culture, to the world, it goes without saying that this is not Japan's only forte. Japan has surprised the world on many occasions in the field of technology as well. We are now proud to present the most surprising of news: a grand project that enables us to project images on the surface of the moon which are visible from any part of the globe by using projection mapping from a lunar satellite is currently underway.

Regarding the Japanese "Moon Project," the “Kaguya,” also known by its english name “SELENE”, a lunar observation satellite of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), launched in 2007, and is still fresh in memory. It is thought to be the most important moon exploration project ever since the US Apollo program. Kaguya, which had been deployed on a lunar orbit, succeeded in collecting a year and a half's worth of high-precision observation data. After this mission’s completion in 2009, in parallel with the original agenda, the use of SELENE-II in official missions began, including performing unmanned aircraft soft landings on the moon’s surface and direct probe collection.

However, there was an unexpected side-project progressing in the background of all this: by using projection mapping technology to optimize the image of objects projected on the shaded part of the moon, researchers created the possibility of using the moon’s surface as a screen that would be visible from Earth!! By including this new technology in educational materials, it might help awaken the outstanding astronauts of the future. However, its biggest practical use mostly lies in advertising. The idea of an advertisement visible to all people on Earth, also independent from user devices, is groundbreaking. All advertisers would need to worry about are the clouds.

In a nutshell, the image is projected on the shaded part of the moon. Compared to the middle of the day on Earth, the moon is very dark, with even a full moon being over 40-50,000 times less bright than the sun, reflecting only 7% of the sunlight. In spite of that, as a projection screen, it’s still too bright. Therefore, the "moon screen" works best at the time of a new moon.

So, let's jump to the most important part: when and where will you be able to see it? Well, that is also being carefully calculated. Kaguya is orbiting at a height of 100 km above the moon’s surface, where it takes 1 hour 58 minutes to complete a full orbit. So, it passes around the part of the moon visible from the Earth in under an hour, and while Kaguya is behind the moon, we can’t see it. The plan is to adjust the speed of orbit via satellite altitude to guarantee a few hours per day when the projected image would be visible on Earth. Of course, nights on Earth depend on the time zone, so the image can be projected on the moon’s surface in accordance with this. Synchronized with the time when it is dark enough for the moon to be clearly visible, the most appropriate time frame is before people go to sleep, and it becomes natural to match this to the time zones, thus being able to provide “primetime” screening slots to each time zone for 30-60 minutes. So, we can have programs in Japanese for the Japan time slot, English for the US, and make the programming zone-specific. The possibilities are just so exciting!

What companies or industries would be willing to use this platform built by such a revolutionary technology and for what kind of advertisements? We were curious, so we asked an insider about that. Jump to the next page to read all the details. to 2/2