Strategic Headquarters for Space Development

On May 20, 2022, Prime Minister Kishida held the 26th meeting of the Strategic Headquarters for Space Development at the Prime Minister’s Office.

At the meeting, the participants discussed priority matters toward the revision of the Implementation Plan of the Basic Plan on Space Policy.

Following the discussion, Prime Minister Kishida said,

“Today we decided on priority matters toward the revision of the Implementation Plan of the Basic Plan on Space Policy.

First of all, we will drastically enhance Japan’s capability to launch rockets. It is necessary to launch a number of artificial satellites to establish satellite constellations that will enable swift assessments of the state of damage caused by disasters and communications in disasters. To this end, we will expand our capacity to launch rockets in Japan under circumstances where Russian rockets cannot be utilized. Specifically, we will develop a system to launch necessary artificial satellites domestically, including putting H3 rockets that allow for highly frequent, simultaneous launches of multiple artificial satellites and promoting the commercialization of small private-sector rockets through governmental use.

We will push ahead with the Artemis program aimed at manned exploration and other activities on the lunar surface with such countries as the United States, so that we can realize moon landing by Japanese astronauts in the late 2020s, which will be the first landing by those other than U.S. nationals. We will contribute to the program, for example, by promoting research and development of lunar exploration rovers that allow astronauts to ride for a long time without spacesuits. I ask the relevant ministers to collaborate with each other on these issues under the leadership of Minister Kobayashi.”