Recent Activities and Plans toward the Future Reusable Space Transportation System in JAXA

Abstract

In Japan three different agencies for aerospace research and development were merged into Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on October 1, 2003. The medium term plan is the highest‐level plan that JAXA draws up in order to achieve the medium term goal given by the Japanese government. The current medium term of JAXA continues until the fiscal year of 2007. JAXA has started research on reusable space transportation systems according to the medium term plan. Key technologies were selected and will be intensively developed during the current medium term. JAXA aims to attain the technology level ready for flight demonstration within this medium term. National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) and National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) have already conducted Orbital Re‐entry Experiment (OREX) (Akimoto et al., 1994), Hypersonic Flight Experiment (HYFLEX) (Shirouzu et al., 1996), Automatic Landing Flight Experiment (ALFLEX) (Nagayasu et al., 1998) and High Speed Flight Demonstration (HSFD) Phase I and II (Yanagihara et al., 2003) to develop technologies for future reusable space transportation system especially re‐entry technology. Some concept studies are conducted on experimental vehicles to demonstrate the key technologies and to accumulate other technologies for future reusable space transportation system in JAXA.