Report of Japan Node
the Millennium Project
July 6-8, 2010, Boston, USA
Shinji Matsumoto, Chair, Japan Node, JSFR
• Shinji Matsumoto produced the report of the
planning committee meeting & WFS Conference
in Japanese and sent it JSFR Members and
some Medias (Newspapers, Magazines)
• Ms. Sangjoo Ogino translated to Japanese the
executive summary of 2009 SOF with help of
Prof. Kazuo Mizuta and Dr. Shinji Matsumoto.
• Although we tried to publish 2009 SOF in
Japanese, we could not find any Sponsor.
The 9th Technology Foresight Survey,
Science and Technology Center of NISTEP
with help of IFTEC
• New Repot was Published in last June.
• This Survey is done every 5 year.
• Only Japanese Language Version now.
• English Version will be Published in the
near Future.
• NISTEP: The National Institute of Science
and Technology Policy
http://www.nistep.go.jp
Overview of SSPS Studies in Japan (1/2)
July 2010
As for Japan, SSPS* studies have been mainly conducted by JAXA* and
METI*. They are continuing to study on SSPS concept study, technology
development and small-scale ground experiments for more than 10 years.
<JAXA＞
JAXA has been studying both Microwave based (M-)
SSPS and Laser based (L-) SSPS since 1998.
JAXA is proposing a roadmap to achieve commercial
SSPS around 2030. Ground energy transmission
experiment (500m-distance, laser energy
transmission) has already been conducted, and
technology demonstration using small satellite or on
the ISS is scheduled to be carried out by around
2012
Annual budget of JAXA’s SSPS study is around $23M in recent years. It has recently been on the rise
and in FY2010 climbed to $3.5M. (rate $=\100)
*SSPS: Space Solar Power Systems, the same with SPS in the US
*JAXA : Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
*METI：Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
M-SSPS
L-SSPS
Overview of SSPS Studies in Japan (2/2)
July 2010
<METI / USEF*＞
USEF has been conducting study about M-SSPS under METI since FY2000.
Microwave power transmission ground test was started in cooperation with USEF
and 16 private companies ( MHI, MELCO, IHI, ・・）in 2009.
Main purpose of this test is to develop a precise microwave beam control system and to
build a power transmission model to demonstrate its effectiveness.
Annual budget of METI /USEF’s SSPS study was relatively small (around several
hundred thousand dollars), but it has increased recently. This year’s budget is
about $2M.
<Other organizations>
Some universities have been involved in SSPS studies. Kyoto University is
especially active on the study of microwave power transmission technology.
Many private companies and research institutes have also been actively involved
in SSPS studies.
Under Space Master Plan which was enacted in 2009, the
government aims to promote SSPS program as one of 9 important
systems programs.
*USEF : Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer (affiliated organization of METI)