Questions tagged [japan]

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3 answers
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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 ...
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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 ...
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1 vote
2 answers
126 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 ...
  • 149k
4 votes
1 answer
279 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 ...
2 votes
1 answer
461 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 ...
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-7 votes
1 answer
234 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 ...
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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?
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9 votes
1 answer
390 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 ...
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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 ...
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9 votes
1 answer
138 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 ...
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