After studying aerospace engineering atthe University of Tokyo Graduate
School, YAMAZAKI Naoko wascertified as Japan’s second female
astronaut in 2001. Currently a memberof subcommittees of the National Space
Policy Committee of Japan, she also
engages in a wide variety of activities,
from giving lectures and writing about
space to developing human resources.

MAKING OUR WORLD:BETTERFROMSPACEA JAPANESE ASTRONAUT’S PERSPECTIVE
Amid rapid global advancements in the development and utilization of outer space, Japan is carrying out new efforts inits aim to become a “self-sufficient space-faring nation.” A former Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
astronaut explains the country’s future space vision and the possibilities that are opened up through the use of outer space.
Today, over half a century
since the first human footsteps
were planted on the Moon, spacedevelopment and utilization areadvancing at a feverish pace. In
2022 alone, a record number ofsatellites and other objects werelaunched into orbit—2,368 in
total, about 11 times that of adecade ago—for various purposes,

from national security andcommunications to disastermanagement and environmentalconservation. While on the one
hand, private firms have begun
to offer manned spaceflights,
Artemis, an international space
exploration program promotedby the United States, aims to send
humans back to the Moon as early
In 2010, Yamazaki (top right) boarded
the Space Shuttle Discovery and spent 15
days in space, including time on theInternational Space Station. “When I
returned to Earth, I was struck by how
much I appreciated breezes and thefragrance of plants. That made me wantto take good care of what is usually taken
for granted. When people consider theissues facing the planet, I want them tolook for solutions by broadening theirhorizons to space. That will expand boththeir ideas and possibilities.” NASAas 2025, with the subsequent
plan to develop infrastructure
for sustainable activities on andaround the Moon. “Momentumis building to not just go to space,but to also expand economic
activities to cislunar space, the area
between the Earth and the Moon’sorbit,” says YAMAZAKI Naoko,
a former astronaut with the Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA), who now serves as amember of subcommittees of theNational Space Policy Committeeof Japan.
Against that backdrop, Japanis advancing new initiatives tobecome a “self-sufficient space-faringnation.” With its sights set onparticipation in the Artemis
program, JAXA selected two
astronaut candidates in February
2023. Then, this June, Japan revised
its Basic Plan on Space Policy
with the aim of maintaining andstrengthening the autonomy of its
space activities. “As space becomesan indispensable foundation for
national security, industry, anddaily life, the ability to nurture andpossess its own key technologies foraccessing and utilizing space will be
crucial for any global leader,” notes
Yamazaki.
Recent advancements in space
exploration have been driven
mainly by the private sector.
Some estimates see the global
space industry tripling in scalefrom 350 billion dollars in 2020
to over 1 trillion dollars by 2040.
The private sector already launches
more satellites every year than does
the public sector worldwide, andin Japan innovative businesses havebeen generated such as startups
that aim to remove space debris—an increasingly serious issue oflate. Yamazaki points out, “Justas various IT industries first cameinto existence when the Internet
became accessible to everyone,

space can be a place where diverse
ideas emerge.”
Crucial to such a future is thereinforcement of infrastructure
promoting private-sector activities.
One example is the Quasi-Zenith
Satellite System, the global
navigation
satellitesystemdeveloped by the Japanese
government.
Workingincombination with the Global
Positioning System (GPS), it
enhances the accuracy of location
information to within centimetersof an object’s actual position.
Current efforts to fortify thesystem are sure to significantly
broaden its applications, including
the operation of autonomous
drones, and by the mid-2020s, it
is expected to provide such highly
accurate information even without
the support of GPS.
Constructing and organizing
satellite-launching
sites
and
space transportation bases will
also be important, given theexpected increase in demand.
Yamazaki herself has beenworking with local governments,
private organizations, and related
ministries to create a platform forcollaboration among spaceportprojects
throughout
Japan.

Left: Over the next few years, Japan plans to increase the number of satellites in its Quasi-Zenith
Satellite System, which provides highly accurate positioning information. That will enable thesystem to be used widely in the rest of Asia and in Oceania. QZSS.GO.JP
Right: An artist’s rendering of a spaceport. Currently, there are regional plans to construct such
spaceports in four locations across Japan, from Hokkaido to Okinawa. In the future, such rural areas
might serve as space transportation hubs. ©2020 CANARIA, DENTSU, NOIZ, SPACE PORT JAPAN ASSOCIATION.

Artemis—an international space exploration
program in which Japan is participating—aims
to establish a long-term presence on theMoon’s surface and in its general vicinity, withthe eventual goal of serving as a relay point for
exploratory missions to Mars. JAXA

Projects are already underway infour locations, as is coordination
with national spaceport projects,
with the ultimate goal of making
Japan Asia’s spaceport hub.
“Locating such crucial ports here
will be vital to making Japan a
global leader and will also generate
new industries with high addedvalue.”
Yamazaki had dreamed about
space and set her sights on
becoming an astronaut ever sincechildhood, but after participating
in a mission working on theInternational Space Station in 2010,
she experienced a radical change
in her perspective. “When I wasup there, I came to the awarenessthat space was an endless expanseof darkness, and that instead,what was truly irreplaceable was
the brilliant blue Earth shining
in the midst of that darkness.
And it made me feel that my new
mission was to protect it. We canuse space to change our planet forthe better. To do that, though, it
is important for us to cooperatewith various countries and people
under the principles of the Outer
Space Treaty—the United Nations
space treaty, which states thatthe exploration and use of outerspace shall be the province of allmankind.”