February 6, 2025 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
TOMY Company, Ltd.
Sony Group Corporation
Doshisha University

 The transformable nano rover named Lunar Excursion Vehicle 2 (LEV-2), jointly developed by four parties, has received the Prime Minister’s Award at the 7th Japan Open Innovation Prize organized by the Cabinet Office^*1. The robot, nicknamed “SORA-Q,” was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (hereinafter “JAXA”; President: YAMAKAWA Hiroshi), TOMY Company, Ltd. (hereinafter “TOMY”; Representative Director, President & COO: TOMIYAMA Akio), Sony Group Corporation (hereinafter “Sony”; Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman and CEO: YOSHIDA Kenichiro), and Doshisha University (President: KOHARA Katsuhiro). The Prime Minister’s Award is the most prestigious honor bestowed by the Japan Open Innovation Prize. The award was presented at the ceremony held on February 5.

 LEV-2 was created by integrating TOMY’s toy technology, Doshisha University’s small robot development technology, and Sony’s IoT device, image sensor, and image processing technology into the space-related technology developed by JAXA. Despite its small and lightweight design, the robot is capable of achieving stable navigation and autonomous operations on the lunar surface. The prestigious award was given in recognition of the open innovation that produced the achievement.
 Under the framework of the JAXA Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center (TansaX) ^*2, the four parties conducted the industry-academia-government joint research to develop new technologies able to contribute to future space exploration missions and to expand the commercial applications of such technologies to the terrestrial domain.
 The efforts led to the successful development of LEV-2, the world’s smallest and lightest transformable nano rover, with a diameter of approximately 78 millimeters and a mass of 228 grams. LEV-2 became the world’s first robot to conduct fully autonomous exploration of the lunar surface, and captured and transmitted the images of Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (hereinafter “SLIM”) lander showing its post-landing state and vicinity, making a significant contribution to Japan’s first lunar landing mission^*3.
 In addition, we accomplished the technological demonstration of the mobility and autonomous control for nano-sized rovers, as well as the demonstration of the synchronized and coordinated operation of Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1 (LEV-1) and LEV-2 in a multi-robot setup on the lunar surface, which are crucial to future space exploration missions.

◆Other major achievements of the award-winning initiative

◆Roles of the four parties and overview of the project

◆Next steps

 The success of the transformable nano rover LEV-2 project has been a crucial event for the four developers. At the same time, it contributed to the acquisition of valuable knowledge that will inform the activities of the Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center. Following LEV-2, we will pursue new innovation, continuing to develop valuable technologies and their applications that are beneficial for both space exploration and terrestrial domains (dual utilization).

◆Comment from a representative of each party on receiving the award

HIRANO Daichi, Associate Senior Researcher, JAXA Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center (TansaX)
We are deeply honored to have received such a prestigious award. It is the culmination of the collaboration and joint creation we have long fostered with other disciplines, as well as efforts of the Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center to drive innovation in space exploration technologies and promote their terrestrial and commercial applications. Incorporating toy technology, a cutting-edge IoT device, and image processing technology, SORA-Q, the world’s smallest and Japan’s first lunar robot, has become the first in the world to achieve fully autonomous lunar surface exploration, making a significant contribution to Japan’s first lunar landing mission. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the companies and partners who participated in the research and development for their support and cooperation. Encouraged by this award, we will further enhance our collaboration with other specializations and continue to take on challenges toward addressing social issues.

AKAGI Kensuke, SORA-Q Project Leader, TOMY Company, Ltd.
We are truly grateful to have received such an honorable award.
Our company was mainly in charge of SORA-Q’s visual design, structural and mechanical design, and mobility testing, which we performed by leveraging our toy-making technology that has been passed down within the company for over a century. We have developed our toy technologies, such as transformation and unique mobility technologies, with the hope of bringing joy. We are therefore thrilled that our technology has contributed to SORA-Q’s exploration activities on the surface of the moon, which is covered with regolith and thus challenging to navigate, as well as to capturing imagery of SLIM, which achieved Japan’s first lunar landing. Through SORA-Q, we hope to spark children’s interest in natural science by conveying the wonder of space in a way that appeals to their sense of fun. We will continue to take on challenges with a playful approach to help foster the development of future generations.

NAGATA Masaharu, Exploratory Deployment Group, Research Platform, Sony Group Corporation
It is a great honor to have received such a prestigious award for the transformable nano rover developed through our joint research. We would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to all involved.
In this joint research, we were mainly engaged in the development of the robot's operation system and image processing technology, which we achieved by utilizing our SPRESENSE™ IoT board computer. Moving forward, we will continue to proactively create new technologies and explore their potential applications.

WATANABE Kimitaka, Professor, Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University
We sincerely appreciate the honor of receiving the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award at the 7th Japan Open Innovation Prize.
This industry-academia-government joint project has made a significant contribution to Japan’s first lunar landing mission. It is a great encouragement for us to be recognized at such a high level with such a distinguished award.
We owe this win to the tremendous support and cooperation of our partner companies and related organizations, with whom we have been taking on challenges hand in hand. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all of them. Marking its 150th anniversary this year, Doshisha University will continue to pursue new challenges.

*1:  Japan Open Innovation Prize (Japanese Only)External Link

*2:  JAXA Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center (TansaX)
The Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center was established in April 2015, after the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) selected JAXA as a base for its innovation hub development support project aimed at supporting the establishment of such hubs at national research and development agencies. After the project was discontinued, TansaX was funded as a JAXA project from fiscal 2020 with a subsidy for operational expenses. It has been conducting joint research through open innovation, primarily partnering with non-space private companies to develop technologies for addressing technical and commercial challenges in space exploration as well as social and commercial challenges on Earth under the concept of dual utilization.

*3:  Press Release: “Transformable nano rover successfully captures and transmits image of SLIM lander on the moon”

*4:  SPRESENSE™External Link
SPRESENSE and logo are trademarks of Sony Group Corporation or its affiliates.

*5:  SORA-Q Flagship ModelExternal Link