LOC10:18
07:18 GMT
TOKYO, Jan 3 (KUNA) -- The Japanese government is looking to tap demand
among emerging countries for small-satellite launches by developing low-cost
services with the private sector, a major business daily here reported
Thursday.
The Cabinet Office is drawing up plans with an eye on Vietnam, Thailand and
other Southeast Asian markets, where demand to launch disaster-monitoring
satellites is expected to increase, the Nikkei Shimbun said. This will likely
lead to public-private sales and production from next fiscal year with a goal
of handling four or so launches a year starting in fiscal 2017, the newspaper
said.
NEC Corp., IHI Corp. and the state-owned Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
aim to halve the cost of developing and launching small satellites to slightly
less than JPY 10 billion (USD 115 million).
Since this would give Japan enough of an edge to compete against the US and
Europe, the government has decided to help the aerospace industry bolster its
presence in a global market estimated at JPY 13 trillion (USD 149 billion) a
year.
NEC will invest around JPY 10 billion (USD 115 million) to construct a
large plant at its production base in Tokyo, which will be able to
simultaneously build eight small satellites weighing 1.2 tons each. It will
also boast a large facility for conducting all necessary testing on-site. By
also standardizing downlink equipment and other key components, NEC believes
that it will be able to build a small satellite 20 percent or so cheaper at
roughly JPY 6-8 billion (USD 69-92 million).
These are expected to be sent into orbit using the Epsilon rocket, for
which the space agency and IHI Aerospace Co. are working toward a first test
launch this summer.
They aim to slash costs by more than two-thirds through employing
technologies used in the H-2A rocket. By also embracing automation in the
launch process and simplifying inspection and control operations, the two also
aim to reduce the time needed to prepare to six days -- just one-seventh of
what it takes now.
All these improvements are expected to lower launch costs to less than JPY
3 billion (USD 34 million) by fiscal 2017. (end)
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