Japan and Piloted Space Missions

The year 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of Japan’s manned space activity since astronaut Mori fl ew into outer space for the first time as a Japanese person. Over the past 20 years, Japan has acquired expertise step by step, becoming one of the major countries engaging in manned space development.

Japan's entrance into manned space flight is following the road pioneered by its European allies: initial missions on foreign spacecraft, participation in the International Space Station program, and preliminary research on the development of a small, reusable spaceplane. Three Japanese have flown in space, but in general national support in Japan for manned activities has not yet matched that of Europe.

Although the first Japanese astronaut, T. Akiyama, flew a mission to the Mir space station in late 1990 (Soyuz TM-11), this was a purely commercial venture, like the UK mission five months later, and did not enjoy government backing. The first officially sanctioned Japanese manned space flight occurred in September, 1992, on the US STS under the Spacelab J program, analogous to the German Spacelab D flights. The 8-day Spacelab J mission with astronaut M. Mohri was primarily devoted to conducting material sciences and life sciences experiments. Japan also played a major role in organizing the International Microgravity Laboratory program which first flew on the US STS in 1992 and was repeated in 1994. The latter mission included Dr. Chiaki Naito-Mukaias a payload specialist and the first Japanese female astronaut on the 15-day flight. A medically oriented STS mission with a Japanese astronaut is tentatively scheduled for February, 1998. Meanwhile, Koichi Wakata will be a member of the STS-72 crew in 1995 on a mission to retrieve the Japanese Space Flyer Unit (References 54-55).

The Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) was designed to serve as one of the four primary sections of the Freedom Space Station and has remained essentially unchanged in the current design for the International Space Station. JEM is actually a complex facility consisting of a Pressurized Module, Experiment Logistics Modules (Pressurized Section and Exposed Section), an Exposed Facility platform, an air-lock, and a remote manipulator arm. The Experiment Logistics Modules and the Exposed Facility are specifically designed to be replaced periodically to allow a diverse and evolutionary scientific experimentation program. Under current plans JEM will be delivered to the International Space Station in parts in the year 2000. When fully assembled, the module will probably possess a mass in excess of 30 metric tons. The engineering model of JEM was already under construction by the end of 1992, and in December, 1993, the Space Station Test Building was completed. Thermal tests on the structural model of JEM's Exposed Facility began in July, 1994. NASDA is managing the JEM program with the assistance of prime contractor Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The Japan Manned Space Systems consortium has also been formed to promote a long-term presence in space (References 56-64).

A piloted version of the HOPE space transportation system awaited government approval for many years. NASDA had planned to make HOPE a vital part of JEM's logistical infrastructure. Launched by the H-II booster, HOPE would deliver new equipment to the space station and return with the fruits of scientific experiments. This scenario is still possible if the program was approved later in the 1990s, but a manned version of the spaceplane was unlikely until about 2010 or later. The project was eventually cancelled in 2003, by which point test flights of a sub-scale testbed had flown successfully.

The International Space Station (ISS) represents a global partnership of fifteen nations. The ISS is a versatile research institute and a large observation platform in the unique environment of outer space. In this international project, Japan participates with its first manned space facility, Japanese Experiment Module "KIBO". "KIBO" means "hope" in Japanese.

Since 2009, six astronauts are always living in the ISS. For their prolonged stay there, it is imperative to ship food, clothes, and various experiment devices. To date, cargo transport has been carried out by the American Space Shuttle and the Russian Soyuz and Progress. Lately, the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) of the ESA (European Space Agency) was launched, and a Japanese transporter, the H-II Transfer Vehicle "KOUNOTORI" (HTV),is also going to start playing a transportation role.

The KOUNOTORI is an unmanned cargo transporter launched by the H-IIB launch vehicle. It is designed to deliver up to six tons of supplies including food, clothes, and experiment devices to the ISS in orbit at an altitude of about 400 kilometers and return with spent equipment, used clothing, and other waste material. The KOUNOTORI with waste material is incinerated when it makes a re-entry into the atmosphere. This transport operation involves a rendezvous with and docking to the ISS, in a situation requiring a highly reliable transfer vehicle.

The system was, therefore, being developed based on the rendezvous technical technology accumulated through work on the Engineering Test Satellite VII (ORIHIME/HIKOBOSHI), and with the application of fuselage design techniques accumulated during the development of the H-II and H-IIA launch vehicles, and manned space technology used for the Japanese Experiment Module "KIBO."

The development of the HTV is aimed at the practical use of a low-cost and highly reliable means of transport to the ISS. It is expected that the practical operation of KOUNOTORI will allow Japan to accumulate know-how that can serve as basic technology for its future projects on the Space Flyer Unit and on manned transportation.

The cargo transporter to the International Space Station, KOUNOTORI6 (HTV6) was captured with the robotic arm of the International Space Station (ISS) at 7:39 p.m. on 13 December 2017. In January 2017 Japan's spacecraft Kounotori 6 embarked on a week-long mission to test new technology for removing space debris. The cargo transport was detached from the International Space Station with a robot arm, and resumed its solo flight. Metal wires are to be extended about 700 meters into space and electric currents will be sent through them. It's a test of whether the Earth's magnetic field can be used to slow space debris enough so that it will fall into the atmosphere and burn. Japan's space agency hopes to put the technology into practical use by the mid-2020s. Space debris, such as used rockets and satellites, travels at fast speeds and is a great threat to operating satellites and the space station. Developing technology that can resolve the problem has become a serious task in order to safely promote the development of space in the future. The Kounotori 6 arrived at the space station in December 2016, carrying 6 tons of supplies including Japanese-made lithium-ion battery cells and food for the astronauts.