SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2004
Japan overhauling troubled space programme
AP
TOKYO: Japan is planning a major scale-back of its troubled space programme by focusing on smaller satellites and relying more on other countries for launches, a newspaper report said on Saturday.
Space officials believe the current satellite programme is too complex - and have linked its numerous failures to a combination of the long time needed to develop a satellite and an overly ambitious launch schedule - said the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, citing unidentified officials.
Larger satellite launches need about three years of planning and five years of engineering -- but at least one launch had been scheduled per year, it said.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is thinking about abandoning that framework and concentrating on smaller-scale launches that need shorter development times, the Yomiuri said.
The agency has also proposed to a Science Ministry panel that Japan consider getting other countries to do more of its launches, the report said.
Japan in 1970 became the fourth country to put a satellite into Earth orbit, but its space programme has since floundered.
Its ambitions to enter the commercial satellite launching business suffered a blow last November with the failed liftoff of its primary launch vehicle, the H-2A rocket. The domestically developed rocket, carrying two Japanese spy satellites, veered off course and was destroyed in mid-air by mission controllers.
Copyright © 2004 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.