Japan's manned space program

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

wvbraun

Guest
Some details have emerged:<br /><br /><i>The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the Japanese government is considering a rather bold new space policy for that country that would include manned space flights. (Perhaps the headline "JAXA seeks to bodily go" is really a pun rather than a typo. Then again, maybe not.) The plan, scheduled for approval later this month, calls for modifying the H-2A Transfer Vehicle (HTV) originally developed as an unmanned cargo spacecraft for the ISS into a manned vehicle ready for crewed missions by around 2015. The plan also calls for JAXA "to secure superiority in the use of the moon's resources" in advance of participation in an international lunar base by 2025.<br /><br />The plan does not come cheap: the first ten years of the program would cost Japan 250-280 billion yen ($2.4-2.7 billion) a year, compared to JAXA's current annual budget of 180 billion yen ($1.7 billion). However, many Japanese have felt that their space program has fallen behind China's: the failure of an H-2A less than two months after China launched its first manned mission in October 2003 was a rather pointed demonstration of those worries. If a new "space race" does develop, it will not be between the US and China, but between China and Japan (and perhaps India and South Korea as well.)</i>
 
R

rocketwatcher2001

Guest
I can see the Japanese doing it, one of my good friends is here working on the Japanese end of STS-114, and he'll go back to Japan shortly after it's mission. Guys like him will get the manned Japanese Space Program going on it's own. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
A

alokmohan

Guest
After failure of nozomi to mars ,we may not expect much.
 
R

rocketwatcher2001

Guest
If we stopped trying after every failure we had, the Wright Brother's would never have built the 1903 Flyer. The 1901 Flyer was a complete failure, because it was based on Otto Lillianthol's calculations, which were wrong as it turns out. Failures are simply part of the learning process, and are to be expected, and overcome.<br /><br />I think the Japanese are ready for their own manned space missions, more than ready, actually. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
N

no_way

Guest
They certainly have the technology leadership in some relevant areas. Robotics and wireless power transmission for instance. And the RVT project certainly is a promising step in the right direction, WRT to space tech.
 
T

tychotospace

Guest
I think its space race. <br />China want be before than Japan, Japan very long time want to space too.
 
R

rocketwatcher2001

Guest
<font color="yellow">China want be before than Japan, Japan very long time want to space too.</font><br /><br />I'm glad to see the Japanese people once again become "gutsy". That to me is one of the greatest qualities a country/culture can have. It's got to be tempered, though, not wreckless, and I see it in the Japanese now for the first time since WWII. I'm very proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with them.<br /><br />Wataru! (On a journey) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
W

wvbraun

Guest
I agree. I have every confidence the japanese will make it into space (given adequate funding). India won't stand by when chinese and japanese astronauts orbit overhead.
 
T

toymaker

Guest
I honestly think that a country like Japan can and should focus on scientific research when it comes to space.They don't have that much success in the first place so why devout much resources to such a small gain-if it will be gained at all ?
 
Y

yurkin

Guest
Well they do still have the third largest economy on the planet, counting EU as a single economy. But you make a good point. I think alliance with S. Korea, Australia amongst other countries is their best bet. Forming a South Asian Space Agency, SASA.
 
T

toymaker

Guest
Well, I am just pointing out that Japanese don't have that good record of space exploration in the first place.<br />Sure they could throw all the resources into putting a man into orbit but would be worth it ? Perhaps other missions would be more valuabe-for example probes to Europa, a probe to study gravitional lensing effect, next generation telescopes capable of seeing other planets etc...<br />Not as much or comparable costs and new discoveries, where as launching men would be just a show off.Unless they plan a heavy colonisation effort-which sadly is beyond possibility I think.
 
W

wvbraun

Guest
"...where as launching men would be just a show off."<br /><br />Yes, but don't underestimate the value of showing-off...<img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" />
 
R

rocketwatcher2001

Guest
Toymaker-<br />Once the Japanese decide to really get serious about manned space flight, it won't take a lot of their resources, they have a far bigger GDP than Russia. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
M

mrmorris

Guest
<font color="yellow">"...they have a far bigger GDP than Russia. "</font><br /><br />Ayup. Just for the heck of it, Googled up the figures:<br /><br />Japan (2003 est. GDP): $3.57 trillion (PPP basis).<br />Russia (2003 est. GDP): $1.282 trillion (PPP basis).<br />
 
G

gofer

Guest
Sorry if this is too off-topic, but I've always wondered why such large economies as Britain and Germany have no manned space ambitions outside rather inert ESA membership. Surely, if such poor (per capita) countries as Russian Federation and China can afford it, so can the UK and Germany who are in the top ten in terms of their GDPs. Well, add France to it as well. A sort of 'anti-space conspiracy'? Joke. Sort of. More puzzling is the fact that the countries are known for being big explorers in the past, and having started a lot of the space related technologies. (Not a jab at any of the countries listed, just a personal observation and puzzlement)
 
W

wvbraun

Guest
Yes, Germany or Britain could afford a manned space program. Sadly our government doesn't put much priority on space. The greens need the money for their pet projects, like subsidizing wind energy and tearing down the safest nuclear power plants in the world. It's madness.
 
S

space_tycoon

Guest
Heyn folks, I'm back. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <br /><br />Perhaps Euope is waiting until unification becomes solid before committing large resources to a massive space project. <br /><br />I say good on the Japanese. I wonder if Shimizu Corporation will be involved somehow. What I really want to know is, do the Japanese have plans to mine and/or process Helium-3 as the main focus for their lunar effort. The word on the street, is that Bush's Moon proposal is geared towards securing access to this crucial isotope of He-3. This fuel could one day become the world's energy source, as it produces fusion energy with deuterium quite efficiently and with almost no radioactive waste. If and when fusion comes on-line, the nation or corporation which has a monopoly on this fuel will be pre-eminent. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
H

hiro2002

Guest
It's not a plan but a "wish" of JAXA.<br />Same "wich" have been described every year.<br />A Japanese space development budget is 1/10 of the United States.<br />Our government can't recognize that space develop technology is most important in 21th century.<br /><br /> />>many Japanese have felt that their space program has fallen behind China's<br />Because we don't have manned spacecraft. China has it.<br />
 
R

rocketwatcher2001

Guest
Hiro-<br />I am lucky enough to be friends with some JAXA people that are working on STS-114. These are the same people that will be working on JAXA's manned missions launched from Takashima (sp?) someday. I think they are good people for the job. How do you say, "Let's light this candle!" in Nihongo?<br /><br />*"Let's light this candle!" comes from the earliest days of manned spaceflight, it means, let's launch this rocket. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts