15:11 JST February 4, 2018
The Editor
SS-520 has been launched from Kagoshima. February 3, 2018, Nikkei
Nikkei and other media reported a successful launching of smaller rocket ‘SS-520’ by JAXA from Uchinoura Space Observation Site in Kagoshima at 14:03 local time on February 3. SS-520 is almost as long as a telegraph pole and is one of the smallest rocket to launch satellites in the world.
The rocket transported a microsat TRICOM-1R by the University of Tokyo into orbit after seven minutes of the launching.
The success of this launch will pave a way to expansion of space business with affordable cost as the rocket was intended to prove lower cost of launching by using civilian parts and components extensively to lower the cost.
SS-520 can be launched with about JPY 500 million ($4.6 million), much lower than JPY 4 billion for Epsilon, another solid fuel rocket and H-2A heavy lift with JPY10 billion.
The rocket incorporates commercial parts and components as used in home electronics to curtail the cost. JAXA could prove commercial off-the-shelf parts can be used in outer space. Canon Electronics, in particular, assisted the project by providing a system to control the flight path of the rocket.
Microsats, weighing several hundred kilograms, can be obtained very reasonably and private enterprises and universities can afford them. Demand for microsats is growing and one report speculates a market size of 460 units to be launched in 2023.
A constellation of microsats will produce the use of internet everywhere by trafficking of signals. Geological data of the ground surface will make it feasible to launch advanced services in navigation, agriculture or financing as well as predicting natural disasters.
Canon Electronics has launched a joint venture company with IHI Aerospace, Shimizu Construction and others for producing its own rocket based on this experience. The company plans to build its own launching pad in Wakayma to engage in seamless space business. Its goal is keep a launching cost less than a couple of million Yen level and to meet customers request on scheduling flexibly to appeal the global market.■
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