Tokyo, Jan 13: Japan got its first commercial order
to launch a satellite on a homegrown rocket today, a deal that
Japanese officials hope will grow into a business that could
support the country's cash-strapped space program.
The agreement -- which targets a liftoff date after April
2011 -- comes less than two weeks before Japan plans to launch
eight satellites into space to show that its H2A rocket can
compete with rivals in Russia, the United States and Asia's
new space powerhouse, China.
Japan's space program has long been focused entirely on
lifting government-sponsored, unmanned payloads -- mainly
scientific, telecommunications and spy satellites, which it
first launched 10 years ago -- off the launch pad.
But officials are hoping that commercial use would help
fund Japan's long-term space development, which Tokyo believes
is an essential part of national security.
The primary mission of the Jan 21 launch from remote
Tanegashima island, where Japan's main space station is based,
is to send into orbit a greenhouse-gas monitoring satellite
called "Ibuki," which means "breath." But along with the main
payload, the rocket will carry seven "baby satellites" -- one
developed by JAXA, the government space agency, and six
created by university research centres and private industry.
Becoming a commercial space power would help Japan keep
apace of an intensifying space race in Asia.
Struggling under a relatively small budget --188 billion
yen (USD 2 billion) in 2008 -- Japan has watched rival China
march ahead with high-profile manned flights and is now seeing
a growing rival in India, which has set its sights on reaching
the moon.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 00:00