The Japanese government wants to make investments that would double the scale of the nation’s space industry from the current estimate of 7 trillion yen ($77 billion) to 14 trillion-15 trillion yen in the next 10 years, according to a plan released May 25 by the Strategic Headquarters for Space Policy (SHSP).
In the 12-page report, “Promotion Strategy for Space Policy for National Growth: Space Sector Focus,” the SHSP, chaired by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, seeks to stimulate domestic demand and promote international cooperation and overseas commercial sales.
The report recommends that Japan invest in developing standardized technology to build high-performance yet low-cost small satellites for Earth observation, disaster monitoring and communications. The report also calls for development of a small rocket and for investing in small and medium-sized enterprises to boost their participation in the space industry to accelerate development of low-cost components and systems.
It also recommends that government foreign aid funding mechanisms be used to sell the resulting systems and related services to developing countries.
