Asian space race to get more competitive as Japan announces plans to send man to the moon by 2030!

New Delhi: Japan's space achievements have been enough to put the country on the list of pioneers where space discoveries are concerned.

However, the race to become the best in what one does is perpetually on the go and Japan doesn't seem like one to give up.

The Asian space race is about to get more intense as Japan has decided to up its game by announcing its plans to plant a man on the moon by 2030.

As per a new proposal by the government's Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), it is the first time Japan has decided to send Japanese astronauts beyond the International Space Station (ISS) to become a part of an international mission.

In 2016, China disclosed its intentions to send a man to the moon by 2036 as well as plans to land a rover on Mars by 2020.

Meanwhile, India planted the tricolour on the moon in 2008, making it the fourth country to do so and has plans to land a second unmanned probe on the lunar surface by mid-2018.

According to the Daily Mail, JAXA's moon mission was proposed to a panel at Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology this week, which is responsible for directing the country's space exploration.

A JAXA spokesperson told CNN the plan wasn't to send an exclusively Japanese rocket to the Moon, which would be extremely costly.

They said the proposal was for JAXA to contribute to a multinational manned lunar probe by contributing technology, which would grant Japan a spot on the mission.

The spokesperson told CNN a plan for Japan's future space exploration would be released by the panel in time for Japan's International Space Exploration Forum in March 2018.