CHANNELS
SERVICES
 
Spacer Homebase
J1 - A Small Sat Launcher Or Phantom ICBMTokyo - November 3, 1998 - Korea's recent overflight of Japan by an ICBM class rocket has provided the long needed excuse Japan's Self Defence Agency required to pressure the Ministry of Finance into making up to $1.7 billion available to build the nation's first dedicated spy satellites.

With Japan's space industry in tatters following years of neglect by the government, Japan's leading defence contractor, Mitsubishi Group has been quick to step in with detailed plans to build a series of "information-gathering satellites".

The timing of the Korean incident is mana from heaven for Mitsubishi, as it will allow the company to lock in significant government funding for the first phase of it's telecommunication satellite commercialization plan - a market which it hopes to enter by 2005.

Although the proposed spy satellites will be LEO birds at orbits of 500 Kms, they will nonetheless make use of large satellite buses that could be partly based on a standard commercial bus or be used as a test bed for Mitsubishi's first commercial bus.

Given Japan's unfailing commitment to the International Space Station, it is unlikely that the US will object to Japan building its own defence related satellites even if they are to be used to assist Japanese industry break into the commercial satellite industry. But whether US contractors will allowed to supply any sub systems remains open to question given the obvious commercial danger of technology leakage and reverse engineering by Japanese prime contractors.

Former Japanese foreign minister Taro Nakayama plans to visit America in November to discuss possibly importing US satellites or technology, reported The Japan Times.

Support for the plan fits well with the Japanese government's public works program, which for once will be used to build future industries rather than allow LDP-voting, under-employed farmers concrete more rivers and coastlines.

The LDP has already signaled its support for the plan and quick action can be expected on changing Japan's space law which currently prohibits Japan participating in any militiary space activities.

But, with the satellites being touted as "information-gathering satellites" it's possible a new interpration of Japan's space law - which like most Japanese laws is deliberately vague - will enable the spysat program to go ahead under a simple minisiteral guideline. The rump of the traditional socialist oppostion parties can be expected to make a few objections, and if serious enough, could force the government to draft new legislation.

But with unemployment at 4.3% and the US economy continuing to zoom ahead of Japan, the move is possibly the first positive sign for Japan's space industry in many years.

  • NASDA
  • Mitsubishi Electric

    Japan SpySat Reports At Spacer.Com

  • Japanese Companies Plan Hih-Res Image Sales
  • EarlyBird Tweaks The Law

  • JSN Archives
    Related Links
    SpaceDaily
    Search SpaceDaily
    Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express

    Nov 02, 2006
  • Discovery Rolls Toward Launch
  • A Mission To Mars Part Two
  • Chinese Lunar Orbiter Prototype On Display At Air Show
  • Shuttle Astronauts to Install Ball Aerospace Instruments Aboard Hubble Space Telescope
  • Mikulski Applauds Hubble Announcement, Says Decision Is Right For America
  • To The Dawn Of Space
  • Lost In Space No More
  • Oxygen Regeneration Restored At ISS
  • ISRO Moots Manned Mission To Space
  • Indigenous Cryogenic Stage Successfully Tested
  • LAUNCH Becomes First Magazine For Hobby Rocketry And Commercial Space Travel Enthusiasts
  • NASA Gives Hubble Telescope A New Lease On Life
  • Shape Of Things To Come-On The Moon
  • Iran To Step-Up Sensitive Nuclear Activities
  • North Korea To Rejoin Talks On Nuclear Program
  • China The Anti-Superpower Or The Second Hyperpower
  • Bush Says China Saving Too Much Money
  • Explosion Blows Out Window At Paypal In Silicon Valley
  • Arctic Snap Wreaks Havoc Across Nordic Region
  • Global Map Shows New Patterns Of Extinction Risk
  • Microbes Compete With Animals For Food By Making It Stink
  • More Species In The Tropics Because Life Has Been There Longer
  • Scientists Setting Dollar Value For Ecosystem
  • Czech Temelin Nuclear Reactor Hit By Fuel Problem
  • Most Lakes Across China Polluted Or Emptied Out By Humans
  • UK To Push India And EU Over Climate Change Response
  • White House Dismisses Chart Of Iraq Sliding Toward Chaos
  • Iraq Not Lost Yet
  • Red Cross Unveils Mass Southern Africa AIDS Project
  • China's Dirty Secret
  • SPACE.WIRE
    Bringing Space Home, When Your Mission Depends On It
    FREE SPACEDAILY NEWSLETTER
    SubscribeUnsubscribe
      






    The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2004 - SpaceDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement