Slide 94(A) of 99
Notes:
The Japanese space program grew quickly in the 1970s so Japan accepted President Reagan's
Space Station partnership invitation with enthusiasm. Unlike the European Space Agency,
Japan had no previous experience in the field of human spaceflight so the Japanese naturally viewed the U.S. - led Station
project as a springboard to future Japanese bases on Mars (top right) and the Moon (bottom right) as well
as all-Japanese space stations in the 21st century.
Like ESA, the Japanese Space Activities Commission (SAC) had several ambitious manned spaceflight
plans on the drawing board for 1989-2006.
This illustration from the mid-1980s depicts a number of potential "space infrastructure"
projects to complement the existing $2.23-billion Japanese contribution to Space Station
Freedom. The programs depicted below were described in a 1987 Aviation Week article:
The Japanese initially (1984) considered both manned and unmanned polar-orbiting platforms
such as this one. A polar-orbiting platform would cost $1.24 billion in 1988-2006 according to
SAC, and a small Japanese manned platform (1996-2001) would add $3.31 billion to the total.
Another "infrastructure element" was a co-orbiting Space Station platform like those
proposed by NASA and ESA. Estimated cost in 1989-2010: $3.31 billion.
The Japanese also considered geostationary (GEO) communications platforms such as this one. It
would have been assembled in low Earth orbit and then moved to geostationary orbit by an
orbital transfer vehicle "space tug". The GEO platform would cost $2.48 billion between
1995-2008, and the orbital transfer vehicle $6.21 billion (1992-2000). A smaller orbital
maneuvering vehicle would have cost $820 million in 1991-95.
Large "space factories" would eventually be built for industrial production using processes
demonstrated on the Space Station.
This illustration depicts the two "flagships" of the Japanese SAC plan. A $15.86-billion Japanese
spaceplane approaches a new Japanese space station. The space station would cost $7.31 billion
and be developed in 2000-2008 while the fully reusable horizontal takeoff-and-landing spaceplane would
be developed in 1989-2006. Space factories and the original international Space Station Freedom
are visible in the background.
The 2005-2010 time period would be dominated by manned and unmanned industrial activities in
Earth orbit. Meanwhile, the Japanese proposed to launch an ambitious unmanned lunar & Mars
exploration program in 2000-. This would have culminated in manned outpost on the Moon by 2019
(top) followed by a large base on Mars by the mid-21st century (bottom right)
