After previously floundering around regarding its lunar approach, it looks like the land of the rising sun is doing some serious soul searching regarding its place in the
(Daily Yomiuri Online) On the surface, Japan's space development program appears to be going smoothly. In reality, however, it is barely holding together and lacks any real substance.
The Liberal Democratic Party hopes to significantly improve the situation by establishing what it calls the "Basic Space Law." The legislation would call for a Space Strategy Headquarters to be set up and presided over by the government to promote comprehensive space-related policies.
Japan's proposed basic law consists of three pillars which are:
- Reinforcing the nation's security through the development and utilization of space.
- Promoting space-related research and development.
- Promoting the development of the space industry.
Although it is great that Japan is finally creating a vision for its space program, what the nation really needs to do is back up that vision with Yen (Japanese dollars), and lots of it.
Hopefully we will see a real initiative from Japan to colonize space, because if not then they will have to hitch hike a ride from India or (even worse) their Chinese rivals.
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The most interesting / strange item in the article was the following: "For instance, the H-2A is Japan's only booster rocket for launching satellites. Although it is cutting-edge technology, only about 91 percent of its launches are successful, and thus does not meet the standards of space programs elsewhere. The booster is too large to lift small or midsized satellites, and is not cost-efficient."
ReplyDeleteHel-lo!! Dr. Edwards has said that the weight of components for a space elevator would be ~ 80 tons. That means 8 launches of the H-2A (or 9, considering their current success rate of ~90%). That's doable!
Why are they worried about satellite launches when they could be thinking about launching the future components for a space elevator?
That is something I would like to know as well.
ReplyDeleteIs it me, or wasn't carbon nanotubes first discovered in Japan? And if so, why isn't the government taking ownership of this project?