Japan reworking law that limits its space agency from awarding contracts to private companies
The Japanese government is now in the process of reworking the law that governs its space agency JAXA, in that this law has up to now forbidden it from using any of its budget to directly fund the work of any private companies.
According to sources, the government plans to add a provision to the JAXA Law — the basis for establishing JAXA — to set up a fund to provide long-term, large-scale financial support to the private and academic sectors, and to submit a draft revision at an extraordinary Diet session this autumn.
In the past, JAXA has put money into two private companies out of its own income earned from intellectual property and other sources, and the investment per company was limited to several tens of millions of yen. In March, the Liberal Democratic Party proposed that a fund of ¥1 trillion be established over 10 years.
It appears this limitation might explain why Japan trails so badly in the aerospace sector. JAXA has been forbidden to award contracts to private companies. It has been required by law to do all the work itself.
I suspect one of the two private companies it has sent money to was Mitsubishi, which in turn been a major contractor in building JAXA’s H-2A and new H-3 rockets. The system however has not resulted in rockets that are competitive and inexpensive, which is why Japan has garnered little market share.
If the revision in the law allows JAXA to award development contracts to private companies as they develop their own rockets and spacecraft, owned not by JAXA but by them, then we may see a change.
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Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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The Japanese government is now in the process of reworking the law that governs its space agency JAXA, in that this law has up to now forbidden it from using any of its budget to directly fund the work of any private companies.
According to sources, the government plans to add a provision to the JAXA Law — the basis for establishing JAXA — to set up a fund to provide long-term, large-scale financial support to the private and academic sectors, and to submit a draft revision at an extraordinary Diet session this autumn.
In the past, JAXA has put money into two private companies out of its own income earned from intellectual property and other sources, and the investment per company was limited to several tens of millions of yen. In March, the Liberal Democratic Party proposed that a fund of ¥1 trillion be established over 10 years.
It appears this limitation might explain why Japan trails so badly in the aerospace sector. JAXA has been forbidden to award contracts to private companies. It has been required by law to do all the work itself.
I suspect one of the two private companies it has sent money to was Mitsubishi, which in turn been a major contractor in building JAXA’s H-2A and new H-3 rockets. The system however has not resulted in rockets that are competitive and inexpensive, which is why Japan has garnered little market share.
If the revision in the law allows JAXA to award development contracts to private companies as they develop their own rockets and spacecraft, owned not by JAXA but by them, then we may see a change.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
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