Japan has announced a significant commitment to developing its NewSpace sector, offering nearly U.S.$1 billion of support, according to a report in Japan’s Nikkei Asian Review. Japanese news outlet the Nikkei Asian Review also claims that the Japanese government is considering amending its space policy and legislation to allow Japanese companies to exploit space resources on the Moon, which would be similar to policy initiatives made by Luxembourg and the United States.

A University of Tokyo team announced an innovative project to launch approximately 20 microsatellites over the next three years, in collaboration with more than 20 countries, including Laos and Nepal, to supplement existing telecommunications infrastructure. This marks another development in Japan’s expanding satellite diplomacy across Asia, as it builds influence …

A Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-2A satellite launch vehicle successfully lofted Japan’s latest Intelligence Gathering Satellite (IGS) reconnaissance satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center in the Southwest of Japan on Tuesday, 27 February, 2018. The IGS-Optical 6 satellite is one of several Japan has in orbit, including a number with …

China’s Space Silk Road, an offshoot of its much-vaunted Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has captured the attention of the space sector’s trade media over the past few years, but while China’s ambitions are certainly newsworthy, another Northeast Asian country is quietly building a scientific, technical, and diplomatic space community …

Following on the heels of the successful Rocket Labs Electron rocket launch from New Zealnd on 20 January, 2018, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully launched on 3 February, 2018, a 3 kilogram Cubesat into low Earth orbit using the smallest rocket ever to launch a satellite into …

Kenya’s first indigenously-built satellite – First Kenyan University Nano Satellite-Precursor Flight (1KUNS-PF) – has been completed and handed over to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) from where it will be deployed into orbit. The 1KUNS-PF Cubesat is the first satellite developed …

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., a worldwide leader in satellite networking technology, solutions, and services, announced on December 6, 2017, that KDDI chose Gilat’s unique satellite based LTE cellular backhaul solution to extend reach and resilience with high speed data and high-quality voice over LTE (VoLTE) throughout Japan. KDDI has chosen …

In Part Three of this SpaceWatch Middle East multi-week theme on China’s Space Silk Road and the Middle East, Professor Kazuto Suzuki of Hokkaido University, Japan, argues that Japan’s recent space policies have been developed in response to China’s Space Silk Road, and that Japan has been very proactive in the Middle East as …

The Japanese government, through the Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan, has completed its “Bird Project” in collaboration with satellite engineers and space agencies from Bangladesh, Ghana, Mongolia, Nigeria, and Thailand. The “Bird Project” consists of five Nanosatellites and seven ground control stations located around the world. The five Nanosatellites …

The head of the Iran Space Agency (ISA) has claimed that his organisation is in talks with several European countries and Japan, as well as China and Russia, to explore the possibility of space cooperation. Mohsen Barami also claimed that Iran is in discussions with several international satellite operators. “We …