A PIZZA chain has announced plans to conquer the final frontier by opening the first restaurant on the Moon. Domino's Japanese arm proposed a branch on Earth's satellite as the latest escalation in a pizza publicity war, reports the Daily Telegraph. Rival chain Pizza Hut set the bar high by delivering a pizza to astronauts orbiting the Earth in the International Space Station. Maeda Corp has now come up with a plan for a dome-shaped concrete Domino's restaurant on the surface of the moon. The company estimates the entire project will cost 13.4 billion - of which 4.5 billion will be required to transport construction materials and pizza-making equipment to the moon aboard 15 rockets. Keen to make the most of local resources, Domino's said it will keep costs down by using mineral deposits on the moon to make the concrete. It would feature a two-storey dome with a diameter of around 26 metres and a basement level constructed of steel plating and an area to prepare pizzas. Staff would be required to live on the premises. "We started thinking about this project last year, although we have not yet determined when the restaurant might open," said Domino's spokesman Tomohide Matsunaga. "In the future, we anticipate there will be many people living on the moon, astronauts who are working there and, in the future, citizens of the moon." ON