Science:
News ToolsReg Shops |
The Register » Science » Japan moots manned Moon baseBig plans follow satellite launchPublished Monday 28th February 2005 12:39 GMT Japan's space agency has announced the possibility of developing a shuttle-style space vehicle by 2025 and eventually constructing a manned Moon base - hot on the heels of last Saturday's successful launch of a H-2A rocket carrying a navigation and meteorological satellite. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is once again talking big after the H-2A mission went some way to restoring faith in the country's space programme. A November 2003 H-2A launch ended in humiliating failure when the rocket had to be destroyed shortly after launch. This fuelled criticism of Japan's space ambitions originally ignited by two failures of the H-2A's predecessor - the H-2 - during the 1990s, Reuters reports. An editorial in today's Asahi Shimbun notes: "Desperate though it is to be a player in the space race, Japan still has a lot of catching up to do." This analysis chimes in with space pundits who doubt Japan will ever become a major player in commercial satellite launches. Despite this, and the high cost of launches (Saturday's mission swallowed around 9.4bn yen or $89m), Japan is keen to press on with its programme. Short-term projects include using satellites to send alerts on natural disasters - such as tsunamis - straight to mobile phones. It recently signed up to a global satellite disaster network, aimed at "aimed at improving satellite photo responses to major disasters". ® Related storiesJapan joins global satellite disaster network
Track this type of story as a custom Atom/RSS feed or by email.
|
|
Top 20 stories • All The Week’s Headlines • Archive • Search