This paper gives an overview of the Hinode satellite, which was launched in September 2006 and is now observing the Sun with high spatial resolution and high performance never achieved so far. The primary aims of Hinode are to investigate magnetic activity of the Sun including its generation, energy transfer and release of the magnetic energy by simultaneously observing the solar surface (photosphere) and the corona. Some results from the Hinode observations are presented with emphasis on the supreme performance of the spacecraft and its onboard telescopes.

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Since 1971, more than 400 balloons have been launched from the Japanese balloon launch site, the Sanriku Balloon Center (SBC). In these 36 years, balloon technologies have been developed continuously and plenty of scientific achievements have been derived. Recently, however, we have been faced difficulties to further develop Japanese balloon activities. To solve this issue, we decided to move the balloon base from the SBC to the Multipurpose Aviation Park (MAP) in Taiki, Hokkaido. The MAP has an existing huge hanger and a paved launch pad, which we plan to utilize for balloon operations. From July 2007 to March 2008, new balloon facilities, including a new operation building and new launch equipments, have being constructed. They will enable us to launch larger balloons more safely and to perform balloon operations more effectively than ever before. The first balloon from the MAP is planned to be launched in May 2008.

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As traditional satellites successfully utilize extensible structures such as long magnetic booms or large antennae, the variety of space missions to be realized by nano-scale satellites would be greatly expanded if they employed such structures. Specifically for remote sensing applications, extensible structures are convenient for achieving long focal lengths required by the optics system. In our laboratory, a nano-scale remote sensing satellite “PRISM” has been developed with an expected launch date in the 2008 fiscal year. PRISM has an extensible boom with a telephoto lens at its tip, creating a refractive telescope, which on the orbit can acquire earth images with a resolution better than 30m. In this paper, we describe the design of the boom and present results from a micro-gravity experiment where the operation and system identification tests were performed.

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This paper introduces a small astrometry satellite, Nano-JASMINE. Nano-JASMINE is mounted a 5-cm effective diameter telescope and aims to measure positions of ten or twenty thousands of stars of z ≤ 8 mag for all-sky with the accuracy of a few milli-arcseconds. The mission goals are clarified and the current status of development of the telescope is reported.

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We have developed a Star Image Extractor (SIE) which works as an on-board real-time image processor. It is a logic circuit written on an FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array) device. It detects and extracts only an object data from raw image data. SIE will be required with the Nano-JASMINE ¹⁾ satellite. Nano-JASMINE is the small astrometry satellite that observes objects in our galaxy. It will be launched in 2010 and needs two years mission period. Nano-JASMINE observes an object with the TDI (Time Delayed Integration) observation mode. TDI is one of operation modes of CCD detector. Data is obtained, by rotating the imaging system including CCD at a rated synchronized with a vertical charge transfer of CCD. Obtained image data is sent through SIE to the Mission-controller.

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“TSUBAME” is a university-built small satellite mission to measure polarization of hard X-ray photons (30-200 keV) from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) using azimuthal anisotropy of Compton-scattered photons. Polarimetry in the hard X-ray and soft γ-ray bands should provide crucial information for understanding the high-energy emission mechanisms and the distribution of magnetic fields and radiation fields in the astrophysical sources. TSUBAME has two instruments: the Wide-field Burst Monitor (WBM) and the Hard X-ray Compton Polarimeter (HXCP). The WBM determines on board the direction of the burst occurrence with an accuracy of 10 degrees, then using a high speed attitude control device, the HXCP is pointed to the GRB within 15 seconds after the burst occurrence to promptly detect polarized X-ray photons from the GRB. We present an overview of the TSUBAME mission, its estimated scientific capability for detecting GRBs and measuring their X-ray polarization, development of multi-anode photomultiplier tubes that use ultra bi-alkali photocathodes, and the future plans of this mission.

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The Balloon-born Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS), aiming to search for antiparticles/antimatter in the cosmic radiation, successfully carried out the second scientific flight over Antarctica in 2007/2008 (BESS Polar-II), in the solar minimum period. The newly developed BESS Polar-II spectrometer including the solar-cell power supply system worked well during the flight, and more than 4.6 billion cosmic ray events were recorded for 24.5 days. This report describes overview of the scientific flight.

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We have developed a far-infrared interferometer (Far-Infrared Interferometric Telescope Experiment: FITE). It will be the first astronomical infrared interferometer working in space. FITE is a balloon-borne telescope, and operated in the stratosphere (the altitude of 35 km). The aim of the FITE project is to achieve a high spatial resolution of 1 arcsecond at the wavelength of 100 micrometers. FITE is a Michelson stellar interferometer, and is able to realize a long base line beyond the size of the collecting mirror by using four plane mirrors. The first flight is scheduled for November 2008 in Brazil, and the aim is to measure the interference fringes with a spatial resolution of 2.5 arcseconds. In order to achieve this, the two beams must be focused within 2.5 arcsecond accuracy in the imaging quality, within 10 arcsecond accuracy in the beam alignment and within 30 micrometers accuracy in the optical path length between the two beams. In order to archive these accuracies, the structural parts of the telescope were made of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics, which have very low thermal expansion coefficient and large Young's modulus. During observation of a target, the optical alignment is actively adjusted and the orientation of the telescope is stabilized by the three-axis control.

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We developed the sensor optics of the Far Infrared Interferometric Telescope (FITE). The spatial resolution of FITE is expected to be 2.5 arcseconds. In order to reconstruct images, precise measurements of the visibility of the interference are necessary. For this purpose, we designed the focal plane of FITE. The focal plane is the entrance focus of the sensor optics. Its camera optics has the F/106 beam for each beam of the interferometer. The PSF is dominated by diffraction, and its size corresponds approximately to the array size so that the fringe pattern can be measured by the array in the sheet. The sensor optics consists of two infrared detectors and the optical CCD. Each detector is installed on the final focal plane of the sensor optics. The far-infrared detector has the format of 15 pixels with 1.5 mm pitch. The mid-infrared detector and the optical CCD are developed as the sensor for the interferometer alignment. The sensor optics and the detectors are installed on the cryostat. Because of their sufficient specifications, we believe to achieve the 2.5 arcsecond spatial resolution.

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ALOS is a satellite for land observation with high spatial resolution and wide field of view, providing time series image data sets revealing the land-use and land-cover change. The earth surface is changing due to many dynamics by natural phenomena or events as well as human-induced developments. ALOS is a unique satellite system dedicated to the observation of land-cover dynamics, enabled by the sensor suite composed of PRISM, PALSAR and AVNIR-2 onboard satellite system operated with the interruptible systematic observation strategy, to detect and track disasters. This paper describes the ALOS data applicability with the expected future improvement to fill the gap between the present state of the arts and the ideal performance in the early case studies toward the operational disasters management.

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An S-520 sounding rocket was launched in the summer of 2007 in order to observe magneto electric phenomena in high sky and to verify a new spectroscopic observation method. A Multi-Spectrum Imager (MSI) was developed for the latter aim. The observation device is equipped a spectroscopic camera with a liquid crystal tunable filter and a pointing system to control the pointing direction to take spectroscopic images of a target against the spin of the rocket body. With the successful flight of the sounding rocket, the MSI succeeded in taking and sending approximately 30 pictures and the house keeping data.

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The compact infrared camera (CIRC) is one of technology demonstration payloads of Small Demonstration-Satellite type-3 (SDS-3). The CIRC is an infrared camera equipped with an uncooled infrared array detector (microbolometer). Microbolometers have an advantage of no requirement of cooling mechanisms such as a mechanical cooler. The main mission of the CIRC is the technology demonstration of the wildfire detection using the microbolometer. In this paper, we show the details of the design and concept of the CIRC. We also show preliminary results of feasibility study of the wildfire detection and other applications using thermal infrared images.

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Disaster monitoring is one of the most important objectives of the ALOS mission. Continual observation before a disaster and immediate observation after a disaster are important for determining the actual conditions in the target areas. ALOS/PALSAR is helpful for this purpose even in remote locations. PALSAR detected signals associated with various kinds of disasters, including landslides, floods, volcano eruptions, and earthquakes. Comparing amplitude images of before and after a disaster, we could find obvious changes on the ground surface caused by the disasters. Using the DInSAR technique, ALOS/PALSAR can detect ground deformations associated with a large earthquake over a wide area. Precise deformation information helps us to understand or interpret the mechanisms of a seismic fault. We tried to compare observed deformations to those induced from a fault model and found that the calculated deformation can explain the observed deformation well.

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The Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM) is a project for the global and long-term observation of the Earth environment planned by JAXA. GCOM is expected to play an important role in monitoring global water circulation and climate change and demonstrate the usefulness of the GCOM system in practical fields. JAXA is developing the GCOM system in order to contribute toward the 10-year implementation plan for the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The GCOM-W1, which is the first satellite of GCOM mission, will be launched in 2012. The overview of the GCOM mission, GCOM system, GCOM satellites and their development status are presented in this paper.

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The EarthCARE mission is planned to be launched in 2013. JAXA and NICT have developed a cloud profiling radar (CPR) for the EarthCARE mission to perform observation of the cloud profiles and Doppler velocity of the cloud particles. The CPR is one of the core sensors of the EarthCARE satellite and will be the first space-borne W-band radar with Doppler measurement mode. The CPR employs a light-weighted large reflector which has to assure extremely high beam pointing accuracy and high physical surface accuracy even in the severe thermal environment in orbit of around 450 km height. Therefore, the CPR antenna reflector has been designed to have quite lower thermal deformation compared to the general reflectors used for the communication satellites. This report shows preliminary design result of the CPR antenna main reflector, the measured characteristics of the reflector material, and the results of the bread board model manufacturing and testing. The results concluded the manufacturing feasibility and thermal tolerance of the reflector are almost successfully evaluated.

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This paper introduces the activity of the newly launched JAXA Space Biomedical Research Office, including ongoing space clinical medicine research. It also explains the new office's goals, policy, criteria for prioritizing research themes, and process for conducting research, as well as some topics of space biomedical research.

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We developed ‘Hybrid exercise’ method that was designed to maintain the musculoskeletal system by using electrically stimulated antagonist muscles to resist volitional contraction of agonist muscles. This approach also produces a minimum of inertial reaction forces and has the advantage that it may minimize the need for external stabilization that is currently necessary during exercise in a weightlessness environment. The purpose of this study was to develop the intelligent suits with virtual reality (VR) system that had function of preventing disuse atrophy of musculoskeletal system using hybrid exercise system. Installing of the hybrid exercise system to the subject became easy by the intelligent suits. VR system realized the sense of sight by computer graphics animation synchronized with subjects' motion, and sense of force induced by electrical stimulation. By using VR system, the management of the exercise accomplishment degree was enabled easily because the device could record the exercise history. Intelligent suits with VR hybrid exercise system might become one of the useful countermeasures for the disuse musculoskeletal system in the space.

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Currently, International Space Station (ISS) is capable to support 3 to 4 astronauts onboard for at least 6 months using an integrated life support system to support the need of crew onboard. Waste from daily life of the crew members are collected by waste recycle systems, electricity consumption depends on collecting solar energy, etc. though it likes the infrastructure we use on Earth, ISS can be comprehended nearly a self-reliant integrated architecture so far, this could be given an important hint for current architecture which is based on urban centralized infrastructure to support our daily lives but could be vulnerable in case of nature disasters. Comparatively, more and more economic activities and communications rely on the enormous urban central infrastructure to support our daily lives. Therefore, when in case of natural disasters, it may cut-out the infrastructure system temporarily or permanent. In order to solve this problem, we propose to design a temporary shelter, which is capable to work without depending on any existing infrastructure. We propose to use some closed-life-cycle or integrated technologies inspired by the possibilities of space and other emerging technologies into current daily architecture by using Infra-free^® design framework; which proposes to integrate various life supporting infrastructural elements into one-closed system. We try to work on a scenario for post-disaster management housing as the method for solving the lifeline problems such as solid and liquid waste, energy, and water and hygiene solution into one system. And trying to establish an Infra-free^® model of shelter for disaster area. The ultimate objective is to design a Temp Infra-free^® model dealing with the sanitation and environment preservation concerns for disaster area.

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The technologies for the Solar Power Satellite (SPS) have been well studied on the ground and now it is highly required to make demonstration experiments in space as the next logical step. One of the important subjects to be verified in space is the microwave power transmission pointing at the rectenna site on the ground. It includes verification of high-power microwave power transmission through the ionosphere and demonstration of the retro-directive phase control technology for the microwave beaming. These studies can be conducted by the “Small Satellite” that is currently promoted as one of the near future space programs in Japan. The conceptual study for the demonstration experiment has shown that 1 kW class microwave power transmission experiment at 5.8 GHz in the low earth orbit is worthwhile and feasible under constraints of current concept of the “Small Satellite” program.

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The JEM elements are delivered to the ISS on three Shuttle flights and are assembled on orbit subsequently. The verification of JEM structural compatibility with the Space Shuttle was performed to certify its flight readiness. Structural compatibilities are required on weight and center of gravity, stiffness and structural damping, strength, and dynamic clearance. Verification results should be reviewed at several assessment stages and needs to be approved by NASA for flight certification. On the other hand, JEM is the Japanese first manned-base facility, and has complicated interface with the Space Shuttle. So several issues were found in the verification phase and have been successfully resolved by technical challenges on Lack of Ascent Performance Margin (APM), Non-linear stiffness of structural latch mechanism, Negative structural margin, and Close clearance / Interference.

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MAGnetic Data Acquisition System (MAGDAS) of the Circum-pan Pacific Magnetometer Network (CPMN) is introduced. MAGDAS/CPMN measures the ground magnetic field all around the world and sends the measured data to Space Environment Research Center (SERC), Fukuoka, Japan, via Internet, telephone line or satellite phone line. As examples of the phenomena observed by MAGDAS/CPMN, we present observations of the equatorial electrojet, Pi 2 waves near the dip equator, and SC-associated ionospheric electric field; Pi 2 is a transient ULF wave taking place at the beginning of a phenomenon called substorm, and SC (sudden commencement) is a phenomenon taking place as an interplanetary shock arrives at the Earth. We also compare ground-based estimations of the space plasma density with simultaneous direct observations by spacecraft.

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The current status of research and development of an electrodynamic tether (EDT) system for space debris mitigation is described. EDT is a kind of advanced propulsion technologies, which requires no propellant and electric power in theory. Since debris de-orbit systems need highly efficient propulsion systems, EDT can be one of the most attractive candidates. The first step to make the debris removal system practical in future is the demonstration of the EDT operation on orbit because no one has ever demonstrated the thrust generation by EDT. Therefore, we have been conducting research and development of an EDT system using a small satellite. In this paper, the concept of the EDT demonstration on orbit and the current status of the research and development are described.

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MDS-1 satellite observations demonstrated that highly energetic electrons in the outer radiation belt disappear during the main phase of the magnetic storm, and rebuilding of the highly energetic electrons is made during the recovery phase of the magnetic storm. A distribution of the new peak of highly energetic electron flux with respect to the distance from the Earth is inversely proportional to the magnitude of the magnetic storm. In case of the large storm, the outer electron belt is pushed toward the Earth, filling so-called slot region. It is of interest to identify that seed electrons are necessary around inner edge of the outer radiation zone to fill slot region. It was found that the location of the intense low frequency plasma waves, which appear during the storm recovery phase, coincides with the location of the peak intensity of the highly energetic electrons in the outer radiation belt. This coincidence strongly suggests that an internal acceleration process takes place which leads to a large increase in the intensity of highly energetic electrons in the outer radiation belt during the storm recovery phase. A seasonal variation of the outer radiation belt is identified. The increase in the intensity of the highly energetic electrons is large both in spring and autumn seasons. The magnetic activity is also large both in spring and autumn seasons. Correlation of the increase in the intensity of highly energetic electrons with the magnetic activity is identified. A solar cycle variation of the outer radiation belt is also identified. The location of the outer radiation belt was found closer to the Earth during the solar maximum periods and far from the Earth during the solar minimum periods. This variation is due to the evidence that large magnetic storms occur largely during the solar maximum periods, while small magnetic storms take place largely during the solar minimum periods, resulting in a long-term solar cycle variation with respect to the distance from the Earth.

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We present highlights of observations of the Sun with Japanese Hinode mission launched by JAXA in September 2006. The scientific objective of Hinode mission is to observe, in an unprecedented detail, a wide variety of plasma activities in the Sun's corona together with magnetic activities on the photosphere and in the chromosphere, utilizing a suite of three state-of-the-art telescopes; Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). Since the beginning of the observations late in October 2006, Hinode has been providing ample information on activities of magnetized plasmas in the solar atmosphere some of which are totally new to us. In this article, we present an overview of the Hinode mission as well as some highlights of the observations.

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The importance of space environmental effect on material is addressed. Some examples of the material degradation in a particular space environment are introduced. In order to endorse the material properties requested in a mission, ground-based studies are quite important. However, present deficient ground-based simulation technology cannot perform the accurate assessment of the material degradation in space. On the other hand, infrastructures for the material evaluation using Kibo and International Space Station, is now established after long desire of material scientists and engineers. However, we will face difficulty for retrieve the exposed sample by the retirement of Space Shuttle. Development of new material evaluation methods using small satellite without retrieving the samples and of the accurate ground-based simulation techniques are both highly desired to achieve low-risk missions.

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The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) uses monitors on board satellites to measure and record in-flight data about ionization effects in space. A compact, total-dose measurement system for small satellites—Space-Oriented Higashiosaka Leading Association -1 (SOHLA-1) and Small Demonstration-Satellite -1 (SDS-1)—was developed based on a prior system for measuring total ionizing dose effects. Especially, the sensor for SDS-1 is much smaller than the sensor for SOHLA-1. The sensor for SDS-1 is 8 mm wide × 3 mm high × 19 mm long and weighs approximately 4 g with 500 mm with its wire harness. An 8-pin Lead less Chip Carrier (LCC) RADFET and temperature sensor are arranged on it. Seven sensors are mounted on some components inside the SDS-1. The sensor for SOHLA-1 is a 14-pin Dual Inline Package (DIP) type RADFET. The four sensors, which have RADFET on a printed board covered with an aluminum chassis, are mounted both inside and outside the satellite. This report presents small total dose measurement systems and ground irradiation test results for two small satellites.

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Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) deployed three identical Micro-Particles Capturer (MPAC) units on the exterior of the Russian Service Module (SM) on the International Space Station (ISS). MPAC is a passive experiment designed to evaluate micrometeoroids and space debris environment on ISS orbit. Silica aerogels were mounted on MPAC units to capture those particles. However, it was found that the surface of silica aerogel had been altered by space environment during the experiment. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of atomic oxygen and ultraviolet rays on silica aerogel. The experimental results suggested that AO caused small cracks on silica aerogel surface, however, surface morphological feature observed in silica aerogel on SM/MPAC could not be reproduced by AO or UV-exposures. Contribution of severe contamination forming such surface texture was suggested.

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Space in the vicinity of Europa is populated by dust originating from its surface. Fragments of the surface are ejected due to meteoroid hypervelocity impacts (but also they may originate from the sub-surface such as was found on Enceladus). It is assumed that orbit-based detection and analysis of material ejected from the Europan surface may provide an alternative method for sampling Europan material without landing on the surface. Relative impact speeds from these dust sources onto an in-orbit detector would, typically, be about 2 kms^-1. This impact speed is generally too low for complete vapourisation of the impactor/target and the ejecta material could be captured in-situ for further analysis. Our current work is aimed at the development of a new hybrid dust detector for any Europa orbiter as well as an understanding of Europa's dust cloud by mimicing micrometeoroid impact into simulated European regolith/ice. In this paper we present our latest research as well as the facility we have developed as a new laboratory in the field of HVI physics.

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Many pieces of space debris are in low earth orbit (LEO), and may be a serious problem in the near future. They are very hazardous to spacecraft such as the ISS, in which humans stay for long periods. In January 2007, China performed an experimental destruction of the meteorological satellite FengYun-1C in low earth orbit using a ballistic missile. Optical instruments for space debris observation were installed on Mt. Nyukasa in Nagano Prefecture by JAXA, and the resulting low earth orbit debris was observed with the small telescope there.
We have developed an image-processing technique, the line-detection method, to extract such effects as the streaks created by meteors, LEO satellites, and LEO debris. We succeeded in detecting the trajectories of specified FengYun-1C debris whose TLE were known. In this paper, the detection and observation of low earth orbit debris are discussed.

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It is important for satellite operations to forecast any increase in high-energy electron flux at a geostationary earth orbit (GEO) because high-energy electrons cause deep electric charging of spacecraft. We report on a forecast model of the high-energy electron flux using a neural network.

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Small particles of less than 0.5 mm diameter collide with spacecraft solar panels, which work as an electrical power supply. Sustained arc discharging does not occur during such impacts, although trigger discharges are generated during several hundreds of milliseconds. The electrical performance of the solar panels is degraded slightly, but not enough to affect satellite systems.

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The Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System (USERS) Project has been completed with full success, and the Service Module (SEM) of the USERS Spacecraft, which supported the recovery portion of the spacecraft which was left on the orbit, was properly disposed to the maximum extent as possible according to the IADC debris mitigation guideline and re-entered the atmosphere on June 15, 2007 (JST). USERS spacecraft disposition by possible means available at the mission completion showed good example of realizing debris mitigation purpose in spite of originally different design baseline, and obtained actual data and experiences to be reflected for future space programs.

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Moving components materials in orbit environment require surface modification with stable lubrication for preventing increase in friction due to oxidation and irradiation damages. We have prepared a stainless steel substrate and four kinds of lubricative coatings such as TiN, MoS₂, mixture of Cu and BN and Cu on the substrates and installed them on the International Space Station in orbit for exposure test from about a year to three years. We have analyzed tribological properties, surface roughness, chemical concentration and so on. Most of substrates exposed for one year decreased their friction in vacuum as well as at atmospheric pressure, whereas most of substrates exposed for two and three years increased their friction. XPS analysis shows Si based contamination layer that might affect the change in tribological properties.

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We have so far studied the sustained arc between solar array strings using solar array coupons. The solar cells are connected electrically in series by interconnectors. The interconnector is conductor and is weld at both backside and top of cells. The solar array paddle undergoes the mechanical stress due to thermal cycles in orbit. This stress may cause the separation of interconnector welding backside of cells. If the interconnector is separated from the cell, the string circuit is opened. However solar cells can generate voltage. If the separated interconnector attached to the cell again, the current can flow. If the path between interconnector and cell is formed by insulated adhesive, sustained arc can occur between the separated interconnector and cell. In this paper, the sustained arc between interconnector and cells was investigated experimentally.

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In-situ measurement of dust particles in space is important to study the origin or dust particles as well as space debris. Impact-ionization dust detector can supply mass and velocity information of impacting dust particles through the shape of charge signals of impact-generated plasma. Here we have tested plane-parallel type detectors with a target plate and an entrance grid. So far we tested three models with different target diameters: 5cm, 15cm, 30cm and one rectangular model with 20cm x 20cm aperture. Through calibration experiments using dust accelerators, we confirmed that the mass and velocity of impacted dust particles can be estimated from shapes of charge signals, as are previous impact-ionization type detectors. We confirmed that the charge signals do not depend largely on the position of the impact on the target.

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It can be supposed that frequent impacts of asteroids on Titan's surface have made explosive reaction on the methane seas and many kinds of carbon clusters have been produced and stored in the seas, where the low-temperature condition and UV-cut condition by dense nitrogen atmosphere restrict further reactions of the clusters. In order to investigate the production of carbon clusters by the impact reaction occurring when an asteroid collides with a satellite, a model experiment using a 2-stage light-gas gun is carried out. A small metal ball with 3 km/s is injected into a thin isopropyl-alcohol layer with a metal back plate in nitrogen gas. After the impact reaction, produced carbon soot is collected and analyzed, by which production of fullerenes is confirmed.

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The objective of this paper is to investigate into the development of international law on remote sensing activities. There is one general United Nations General Assembly Resolution concerning remote sensing activities, but the problems remain to be solved. Considering international cooperation on remote sensing activities, it seems that there is a common direction that data exchange/sharing should be taken place based on ‘non-discriminatory’ principle, ‘free or no more than the cost of reproduction and delivery,’ and ‘best endeavours.’ It is also mentioned that the remote sensing data exchange/sharing on international cooperation have indirectly been engaging in the harmonization among interests of sensing States, developing countries and sensed States. It is assumed that the data exchange/sharing principles have been contributing to the development of customary international law as “limited in the peacetime and for civil use, every State shall enjoy the access in the manner of nondiscriminatory and reasonable cost and time to the data owned by governmental entities substantially.”

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After a series of major failures of launch vehicle and spacecraft missions, JAXA has been enhancing the concept of systems engineering as a core part of improving its technological bases and development process for about two years. Though these activities are still ongoing, we have already obtained some positive outcomes. This paper summarizes the enhancement activities of systems engineering and other improvement actions for coping with past failure experiences, then suggests the future integrated framework for technology processes.

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Previously, each satellite project in JAXA had individually its own way of managing technical information (e.g. technical documents for planning, requirements, specifications, design, test, and operation). Although there was an information sharing environment in JAXA, no project actively submitted its own information due to a lack of functions for access control and for rapid acquisition of information, which are required by satellite projects. These situations made it very difficult for users to gather information on other projects. Additionally, there was the risk of losing significant knowledge of satellite projects upon their termination. In order to resolve these issues, minimum standard rules, including user-friendly classification rules, were established from the point of view of leveraging knowledge through long discussions with each project. An information system with appropriate access control was developed to implement the standard rules. Since April 2007, the rules and the system have been applied to each project. The risk of losing knowledge has been reduced by enabling the terminated projects to smoothly transfer their technical information to the system. This paper presents an overview of our current knowledge-management activity within the satellite domain including the remaining issues and the proposed solutions to these issues.

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Manrated space transportation system requires much more safety for payload than non-manrated one until now. So the existent methods of reliability evaluation having been applied to un-manrated rockets are not sufficient for the manrated transportation system, or if we apply such old method, it requires impractical cost and time. Therefore we need a new efficient method for safety evaluation or safety guarantee. And naturally it is also needed to design the system taking account of safety. This study aims at suggestion of the efficient and persuasive method of evaluation for safety of manrated space transportation system. Important point is to evaluate each risk quantitatively in advance, to decide what should be demonstrated in the flight or ground test, and to correlate simulation and real phenomenon. First step we should do is to extract hazards from the system. Second step is to evaluate the risk of each hazard quantitatively and to connect it with design point or operation environment. Third step is to integrate each tool to evaluate risk. And last it is required to correlate it with real flight test and to build safety evaluation simulation tool.

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A newly designed CAMUI hybrid rocket motor of 900 N (90 kgf) thrust class, CAMUI-90, was developed. It uses a combination of polyethylene and liquid oxygen as propellants. CAMUI hybrid rocket is an explosive-flee small rocket motor to realize a small launch system with low cost and flexibility. The motor produces a thrust of 900 N for four seconds, keeping the optimal characteristic exhaust velocity of the fuel-oxidizer combination (exceeding 1800 m/s). A main application of the CAMUI-90 motor is for a CanSat experiment. A launch vehicle employing CAMUI-90 motor, 120 mm in diameter and 3.05 m in length, accelerates a payload of 500 g to 140 m/s in four seconds and reaches to an altitude of about 1 km. The first launch of this vehicle was on December 2006.

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The Space Tethered Autonomous Robotic Satellite (STARS) is being developed in Kagawa University, and it will be launched by the H-IIA rocket by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in summer 2008. STARS is the first satellite developed in Shikoku, and its specific characteristics are: (i) mother and daughter satellites, which have basic satellite system respectively, and those are launched at the same time; (ii) large space system more than 5m by extending tether; (iii) robotic system, the daughter satellite controls its arm link and the mother satellite controls tether extension. Development of STARS in Kagawa University demonstrates space technology in local community, which has been considered to be a national project. Also, it promotes popularization, enlightenment, and understanding of space technology in local area of the Kagawa prefecture and around it.

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This paper presents the system development of an experimental rocket for a launch campaign organized by the Association of Planete Sciences in France (http://www.planete-sciences.org). A two-stage experimental rocket was developed by 'Space Club Gifu' and the principal author's laboratory at Gifu University. It incorporates GPS, acceleration and pressure sensors as well as two cameras, one omni-directional. The goals of our experiment are as follows:
1. Constant video monitoring of motor combustion and activity during launch and flight.
2. Acquisition of accelerometer, pressure and GPS data for comparison with simulated results.
3. Developing a new mechanism for stage separation in order to build a future vehicle with two rocket motors.
4. The launch and return of a quasi-satellite to a pre-selected location using GPS data.
The rocket launched successfully at La Courtine, France in 1^st August of 2007, but unfortunately, the first stage could not be recovered. It along with the video footage of the rocket motor burn was lost. However, the second stage and the quasi-satellite were safely found. This project provides excellent training for engineering students in the fundamentals of engineering design and manufacturing.

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CanSat started as Japan-US university student project in 1998. Since then, CanSat has been an excellent practical education program on space engineering for university students, gaining momentum year by year and spreading worldwide. To expand this activity especially to younger students, University of Tokyo developed “CANSAT-Kit” as an educational tool for space engineering. A new style space outreach program put into execution for senior high students using CANSAT-Kit. This paper describes details of the program including its aim, CANSAT-Kit design, teaching methodology and flight experiment by balloon.

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Japanese two lunar and planetary missions, Kaguya (SELENE) and Hayabusa (MUSES-C) are returning vast amount of result to the Earth, and these data are planned to open to the public via the Internet. These are considered useful not only for scientists and engineers but also for the educators and students as a “real textbook”. In space education, we can use several methods to facilitate students' interest. Here we describe some of our examples to promote space education. One is the event accompanying with the major conferences, and second is the video program describing the Hayabusa mission with very unique viewpoint, and the third is the website carefully designed for children. However, the application of mission results to the space education has some points which should be specific to these missions. This paper describes our current attempt of these application and future prospects for the promotion of space education.

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The development of Ground Station Network (GSN) was proposed to achieve advanced operation for nano-satellites by the collaboration of university ground stations. GSN is a network of ground stations of universities and colleges and member stations are controlled remotely via the Internet. The service of the receiving station network was used in cubesat operation. GSN in receiving station service showed improvement of the amount of downlink data. The international network with collaboration of ground stations was carried out. The status data and picture data were acquired during the hand-over operation. As the result of international network operation, the collaborative operation with ground station abroad improves visible time and operation data received per one day. Doppler shift was measured using an amateur radio. The maximum difference of predicted frequency and measured frequency was detected for each pass. The correction method of TLE was tested using the frequency difference. The measurement result with corrected TLE from old TLE showed good agreement to the result with the new TLE.

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Space and globalization are closely related. Not only for financial, but also for far-reaching political motives space activities have played a role as ‘globalization catalyst’. Many international space projects have been used in the past as symbols for political cooperation, and we can safely assume that this will continue to be the case in the future. In addition to this, industrial cooperation is equally becoming more global, starting off with the telecommunication sector. From this point of view it seems logic that also space education programs prepare the young professionals for a global environment. The programs of the International Space University (ISU) have been designed to satisfy these needs. This article attempts to make the link between the global, philosophical dimension of space programs with space education curricula emphasizing international and intercultural dimensions. In particular, the excellent interrelation between the Japanese space sector and ISU will be highlighted.

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Tokai University student rocket project (TSRP) was established in 1995 for a purpose of the space science and engineering hands-on education, consisting of two space programs; the one is sounding rocket experiment collaboration with University of Alaska Fairbanks and the other is development and launch of small hybrid rockets. In January of 2000 and March 2002, two collaborative sounding rockets were successfully launched at Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. In 2001, the first Tokai hybrid rocket was successfully launched at Alaska. After that, 11 hybrid rockets were launched to the level of 180-1,000 m high at Hokkaido and Akita in Japan. Currently, Tokai students design and build all parts of the rockets. In addition, they are running the organization and development of the project under the tight budget control. This program has proven to be very effective in providing students with practical, real-engineering design experience and this program also allows students to participate in all phases of a sounding rocket mission. Also students learn scientific, engineering subjects, public affairs and system management through experiences of cooperative teamwork. In this report, we summarize the TSRP's hybrid rocket program and discuss the effectiveness of the program in terms of educational aspects.

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A small satellite named Hokkaido Satellite “TAIKI” has been designed by NPO Frontier Incubation center for space applications and intellectual activities in Hokkaido. The missions of TAIKI are an agricultural remote sensing using a hyper-spectral sensor and a hi-vision video image filming. As the first step of the Hokkaido satellite project, a space experiment using a 2.7kg nano-satellite was executed. To demonstrate the performance of the bus system of the small satellite, a cube-sat “HIT-SAT” was developed as a scale model of the Hokkaido Satellite. This paper describes the development and results of launch and operation. The HIT-SAT is 2.7 kg in weight and 12cm cubed sizes. The bus system of the satellite consists of five subsystems; power generation system, structure system, data handling system, communication system and attitude control system. The HIT-SAT was launched successfully on Sep. 23, 2006 (JST) as a sub-payload of M-V-7 rocket. The CW telemetry has been received around the world by many radio amateurs.

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The water rocket can be easily made of familiar materials. The water rocket flies well beyond expectations. Water rockets are widely used in educational activities for youngsters. The water rocket activities are interesting and educational for people of all ages. I will divide the contents of the water rocket activity into 3 steps and introduce representative examples in each step. I have considered the aim and the effect of each step. The 1st Step is the experience stage. The purpose of this step is to give a lot of children pleasure. In the 1st step, children are encouraged to have curiosity. It is important that the child enjoys the water rocket activity. It gets the children to think that they want to fly a water rocket. It is important to encourage children to have fun during the 1st step so that they will want to continue to the 2nd step. The 2nd Step is the research stage. The water rocket includes elements which show the children various physical phenomena. Through the water rocket activity, the child leans about real rockets. The children also learn the method of scientific experiments. Each child leans and experiences a scientific way of considering things. The water rocket is the optimal research subject for the club activities of school children. The 3rd Step is the creative stage. The child understands the principle of the mechanism. Then, the child improves a water rocket. To realize a variety of ideas, the child continues to repeat these activities in a variety of ways. In this way, the child gains a wide variety of experiences while advancing towards their goal. By using the water rocket as an educational tool we can teach children about many subjects and phenomena, many of which can be seen in daily life.

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