Rapidus CEO mulls lunar semiconductor factory for around 2040
Rapidus President and CEO Atsuyoshi Koike said he is seriously weighing the idea of constructing a chip fab on the Moon by roughly 2040, citing lunar water resources.
At a Hudson Institute gathering in Washington, Rapidus President and CEO Atsuyoshi Koike announced that the company is seriously contemplating a semiconductor plant on the Moon, targeting a timeline around 2040. He highlighted lunar water as a key factor that could enable chip fabrication and showed an AI-rendered video of a possible lunar factory. Koike joked that Elon Musk would appreciate the visual, referencing SpaceX’s work on lunar cargo transport.
IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, who attended the event, confirmed IBM’s role in supporting Rapidus’s current 2-nanometer production in Hokkaido and joint R&D on 1-nanometer chips. The proposal remains exploratory, with no concrete plans disclosed.
Why it matters
A lunar chip plant could reshape semiconductor supply chains and space industry collaboration.
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