Japan
SpaceX’s Starlink broadband to be available in Japan’s remote areas next year
SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service will be available in Japan’s remote areas starting in 2022.
Op-ed | Japan’s Space Journey: From the Land of the Rising Sun to the Moon
To appreciate how Japan’s space ecosystem functions today, consider where it started.
Japan eyes ‘Asia’s hub in space business’ with more spaceports
Japan’s government says it will build more spaceports in an effort to make the country “Asia’s hub in space business.”
Iceye establishes office to serve Japanese market
Iceye is expanding to serve the Japanese market with the support of Makoto Higashi, the former Japan Space Imaging Corp. CEO and president, who will serve as Iceye’s general manager in Japan.
Japan passes space resources law
Japan’s parliament approved legislation that allows companies to extract and utilize space resources as the head of Russia’s space agency criticized similar national laws on the subject.
Axelspace raises $24 million in Series C round
Axelspace, the Japanese firm planning to offer daily global optical imagery, raised 2.58 billion Japanese yen ($23.8 million) in a Series C investment round announced May 14 in Tokyo, May 13 in the United States.
Japan budgets a record $4.14 billion for space activities
In response to the reignited global space race, Japan is planning a record space budget of 449.6 billion yen ($4.14 billion) in the fiscal year 2021, up 23.1 percent over the current fiscal year that ends March 30, according to draft budget documents.
Hayabusa2 delivers asteroid samples to Earth after six-year voyage
Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission has delivered samples taken from a primitive asteroid to Earth to provide insights into the origin of life on Earth and evolution of the solar system.
Japan launches JDRS-1 optical data relay satellite for military, civilian use
Japan has a new data relay satellite headed for geostationary orbit following successful launch of JDRS-1 on a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H-IIA rocket Sunday.
Astroscale raises $51 million in Series E, $191 million overall
Astroscale Holdings Inc. raised $51 million in a Series E investment round, bringing total funding for the Tokyo-based orbital debris removal startup to $191 million.
Japan’s iQPS to update technology for future radar satellites
IQPS launched its first 100-kilogram SAR satellite, Izanagi, in November 2019 on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The firm’s second satellite, Izanami, is scheduled to launch as early as December on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of Spaceflight’s SXRS-3 rideshare mission.
Spaceflight Industries completes rideshare divestiture
Spaceflight Industries has completed the sale of its satellite rideshare business, Spaceflight Inc., to a pair of Japanese companies following a U.S. regulatory review and the modification of an Intelsat loan.
Infostellar, watching coronavirus, extends capital raising effort
Japanese ground station startup Infostellar announced $3.5 million in new funds April 29 from Airbus Ventures and other investors, but is seeking $1.2 million more by June as a bulwark against challenges stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
Virgin Orbit selects Japanese airport as launch site
Virgin Orbit announced April 2 it has identified an airport in Japan as a potential site for launch operations, joining airports in the United States and Great Britain as hosts for the air-launch company.
MHI pressing through pandemic toward late 2020 H3 rocket debut
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries still expects to conduct the maiden flight of Japan’s H3 rocket this year, notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic.
Mitsubishi Electric, eyeing constellation market, to build demo smallsat for JAXA
Mitsubishi Electric said Dec. 22 that it will build the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-2 as prime contractor for JAXA. The satellite is scheduled to launch on a Japanese Epsilon rocket by the end of March 2022.
Op-ed | Global government space budgets continues multiyear rebound
An expanding U.S. civil space budget is a main force behind recent growth in government space spending, but new civil space expenditures in Asia, the Middle East and Africa also contributed.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries mulls upgraded H3 rocket variants for lunar missions
As Japan prepares to join NASA’s Artemis lunar program, the country’s largest rocket manufacturer says it could upgrade the H3 rocket debuting next year to deliver cargo to the moon as soon as 2025.
Japan to join Artemis program
The Japanese government plans to join NASA in its Artemis program of lunar exploration, although the details about how it will contribute remain to be worked out.
Sky Perfect JSAT, challenged by TV business, hedges bets on HAPS, 5G, HTS and smallsats
JSAT has lost more than half a million satellite television subscribers since 2013, when that business reached 3.83 million subscribers — the highest level in JSAT’s history.
