Japan
2008 – Military Space Activity
The United States, Europe, and Japan all took steps in 2008 that will affect the direction and prominence of their military space activities in coming years. The increasing reliance of governments on space-based capabilities makes military space systems valuable national assets. Demonstrations of an… Thank you for visiting The Space Report! The Authoritative Guide to…
2008 – Civil Space Activity
The trend of globalization in space activity continues, with nations entering into agreements to use each other’s infrastructure and space assets. Two decades ago only the United States, the Soviet Union, Europe, and China regularly launched and deployed satellites and other missions to space. Today… Thank you for visiting The Space Report! The Authoritative Guide…
Space-based Discovery of More Mayan Ruins
Remote sensing satellite data is also assisting archaeologists. In early 2008, archaeologists who teamed with NASA scientists over the past five years announced the discovery of five sprawling ancient Mayan sites in Guatemala consisting of hundreds of buildings.
Disaster Charter Provides Timely Imagery to Response Teams
One of the key challenges in a flood involves getting timely and accurate information regarding flood-affected areas. Satellite imagery can mitigate the magnitude of flood damage by providing response teams with an overall image of the flooded area.
2008 – QZSS
Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System will supplement GPS coverage over areas of Japan that prove difficult with GPS alone. The first launch is expected in 2010.
2008 – ISS
In addition to satellites and spacecraft, a third major facet of in-space activity involves in-space platforms. In-space platforms are facilities or modules constructed or placed in space with the intention of creating a permanent or semi-permanent location and resource base for staging further space activities. The International Space Station is the only operational in-space platform.
2008 – Japan Launch, Payload
Japan, after conducting a high of ## orbital launches in 2006, performed ## orbital ## in 2008. Japan is developing an enhanced version of its H-II vehicle, the H-IIB, designed to carry the cargo-supply H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) as a payload to the ISS. The HTV is scheduled for launch in September 2009 and is to be the largest payload the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has ever deployed.
2008 – Orbital Launch Reports and Forecasts
From the launch of the Sputnik satellite on October 4, 1957, through the end of 2008, approximately ## orbital launches have occurred. These missions carried some ten thousand satellites, experiments, probes, landers, and other spacecraft on trajectories ranging from Earth orbit to missions beyond our solar system.
2008 – Other Countries, Launch, Human
In 2006, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced plans to develop a human-rated version of its proposed GSLV Mark 3 vehicle. The vehicle, whose maiden launch is proposed for 2015, would be capable of carrying a crew capsule to LEO. Additionally, in January 2007, ISRO successfully launched and retrieved the Space Recovery Experiment, the nation’s first recoverable spacecraft, demonstrating the reentry and recovery technologies required for a future human-rated spacecraft.
2008 – Space Stations – Snapshot
Funding for the largest in-space platform, the International Space Station, is included in the government budgets of ISS partners. NASA, the largest contributor, allocated $## billion for the space station in fiscal year (FY) 2008 and requested $## billion for FY 2009. During 2008, two major modules were added to the ISS: the Japanese Kibo, which cost approximately $# billion to develop; and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Columbus, which cost €880 million (US$## billion).