Japan Works Toward Space Development

Keiji Tachikawa, head of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Wednesday said Japan should find ways to cooperate with Asian countries in space development.

By Space Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process

Published April 26, 2005 · Updated March 15, 2026

Keiji Tachikawa, head of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Wednesday said Japan should find ways to cooperate with Asian countries in space development.

Tachikawa told a news conference China’s successful manned-space rocket was a big stimulation to Japan, which should make space development a top priority of national science policy.

Despite a decline in the budget and personnel of JAXA since 1999, Tachikawa said the agency envisions development of an experimental hypersonic vehicle with the cruising speed at Mach 5 in the next 20 years.

Tachikawa, who was the president of NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile phone service provider, said Japan’s space development has been solely for peaceful purposes and not used for military applications.

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