Questions tagged [japan]

The tag has no usage guidance.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
6 votes
1 answer
171 views

Comparing Japan's SLIM and India's Chandrayaan-3 trajectories

I was reading this SpaceNews article on the launch, which states: SLIM won’t be taking a direct route to the moon. After a lunar transfer orbit burn, it will make a lunar flyby, heading into a wide ...
fyrepenguin's user avatar
  • 1,329
1 vote
3 answers
735 views

Was there a rocket launched to space with Japanese manga characters painted on it?

In How common is it to dedicate rocket launches to popular causes? I mentioned a launch for which I could not remember the details. I'd seen photos of a rocket, Japanese I believe, that would be ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 149k
33 votes
3 answers
11k views

Why are Japan's launch facilities so far north?

Japan currently has two space launch facilities: Uchinoura Space Center (31°15′07″N 131°04′55″E) and Tanegashima Space Center (30°24′00″N 130°58′12″E). Both of these are at the south end of the main ...
Speedphoenix's user avatar
  • 5,324
1 vote
2 answers
130 views

What is the US president talking about re US/Japan dramatic expansion of military(?) cooperation?

According to the Bloomberg article Japan Astronauts to Soon Join U.S. in Trip to Mars, Trump Says: The U.S. and Japan will “dramatically expand” their cooperation in outer space, with missions to ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 149k
4 votes
1 answer
282 views

Why is the engine configuration of the Mitsubishi H3 rocket designed to be off center?

Here is a diagram from a recent Ars Technica article about the H3: You can see at the bottom that the main engines are not 90 degrees off from the side engines. I'm sure that this has been accounted ...
David says Reinstate Monica's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
469 views

Will Japan's Interstellar Technologies really call its rocket a "Zero"?

The Space News article Japan’s Interstellar Technologies goes full throttle toward small orbital rocket says: LOGAN, Utah — Japanese startup Interstellar Technologies is developing the main engine ...
uhoh's user avatar
  • 149k
-7 votes
1 answer
247 views

Is space elevator a reasonable idea? [duplicate]

I read today that Japan is trying to build space elevator by 2050. To me, it sounds like making a super skyscraper. There are so many challenges building skyscraper that exist today. It is an ...
Ubi.B's user avatar
  • 492
5 votes
1 answer
122 views

Could the Japanese H-IIB carry a payload to the moon?

The Japanese H-IIB seems like an interesting cost effective system. I see that it can carry a hefty payload into Earth orbit. Could it send a smaller payload to the Moon?
Bundolo's user avatar
  • 57
9 votes
1 answer
392 views

What is JAXA looking for on the Moon in the way of 'potential utilization'?

I was reading this article (terrible layout, sorry). This paragraph caught my eye: While Japan is hoping to send humans to the Moon sometime in the future, Keiji Tachikawa, president of the Japan ...
Undo's user avatar
  • 18k
7 votes
1 answer
131 views

What was/is the Minor Body Exploration Forum?

I just finished reading the Japanese hard science fiction novel Ouroboros Wave. In the afterword, the author writes the following. For context, the book goes into quite a large amount of detail of ...
AlanSE's user avatar
  • 16.2k
9 votes
1 answer
139 views

How are (robotic) government space exploration missions in Japan initiated?

The process of how a "government space mission" is initiated is kind of an interesting question to me. In the US and Europe, one has to deal with a series of institutions, agencies, politicians, write ...
s-m-e's user avatar
  • 6,571