Statement by the Head of Japanese Delegation on Agenda item 3 “General exchange of views” at the 54th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS
2017/1/30
Madam Chair, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Japanese delegation, I am pleased to address the 54th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS. First of all, I would like to congratulate Dr. Mukai, for assuming the chair of this Subcommittee. I wish to stress that the Japanese delegation will support the chair and will work together with other Member States to achieve tangible results through our discussions. I would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Vinay Kumar Dadhwal, the former chair of this Subcommittee, for his outstanding work during his chairmanship. I would also like to welcome New Zealand as a new member of the Committee.
Madam Chair,
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Japan’s activities and views at the national, regional and international levels.
At the national level, Japan has conducted several space activities since the last session of this Subcommittee. Four spacecraft were launched using H-IIA Launch Vehicle No.31 and 32, H-IIB Launch Vehicle No.6 and the second Epsilon Launch Vehicle, one of which is a spacecraft called the Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace, ERG, or "ARASE", in Japanese. “ARASE” was launched last December by the second Epsilon launch vehicle, with the aim of elucidating how high charged electrons are born while they generate and vanish repeatedly along with space storms caused by the disturbance of solar wind, and how space storms are developed. We hope the observation data from ERG will contribute to a better understanding of space weather.
Another notable activity is the 113-day long-duration mission on the International Space Station (ISS) by Japanese astronaut, Takuya Onishi. During his stay from July to October last year, he conducted various experiments and research, such as long-term rodent rearing mission to raise mice in orbit for 30 days and to return the living mice to the ground for further experiments. This mission will contribute to research for understanding and treating aging-related symptoms. This year in the fall, Japanese astronaut, Norishige Kanai is scheduled to be launched to the ISS for the first time, where he will also conduct valuable experiments
Last December, the 6th H-II Transfer Vehicle “KOUNOTORI” or HTV6, was successfully launched. HTV6 delivered essential cargo for ISS utilization and operation to the ISS, including Japanese-made new lithium-ion battery cells. Furthermore, there is an on-orbit demonstration planned aboard the HTV6 to demonstrate key technologies of Electrodynamic Tether, named “KITE”. This mission aims to contribute to a future debris-removal application.
Madam Chair,
At the regional level, Japan promotes the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), which is a unique forum in the region for enhancing space activities and gaining the socio-economic benefit of space technologies and their applications.
Last November from 15th to 18th, the 23rd session of APRSAF was successfully held in Manila. Under the overall theme of “Building a Future through Space Science, Technology, and Innovation”, APRSAF-23 was attended by over 570 participants from 33 countries and regions, as well as 10 international organizations. Representatives from various fields welcomed the progress of concrete activities in the areas of space technology applications, notably, the Sentinel Asia initiative, which aims to support disaster management in the Asia-Pacific region and recently marked its 10th anniversary. In addition, two other ongoing initiatives called Space Applications for Environment or SAFE, and Kibo-ABC, as well as capacity-building and educational activities are being successfully carried out within the APRSAF regional framework. Japan highly appreciates the Government of the Philippines’ cooperation as co-organizer, and will continue to further contribute to the promotion of such regional collaborations.
This year, we are pleased to announce that APRSAF-24 will be held in Bangalore, India, from 14-17 of November.
Madam Chair,
Japan is very pleased that we reached consensus on the first set of guidelines for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities last June. Ensuring the long-term sustainability of outer space activities is an important and urgent task, as expressed in the Hiroshima G7 Statement on Non-proliferation and Disarmament last April. From this viewpoint, Japan is committed to continue to contribute to constructive discussions on the guidelines.
At the international level, we were able to show tangible results from the discussions of this Subcommittee. This bolsters our view, that the Committee plays a unique and important role in promoting international cooperation and ensuring the safety of outer space environment. With the increase of space actors, including non-governmental entities, and space activities, new problems like orbital congestion and space-debris that were unexpected 50 years ago have become increasingly serious while outer space has become more important to our society and daily lives. Under these circumstances, we need to gather and share information, insights and experiences, ensure transparency and promote mutual confidence so that we can find common ground on a range of different issues for the preservation of the space environment. Japan believes the Committee is exactly the forum which enables us to do so.
In this Subcommittee, Japan also attaches great importance to the preparation of “UNISPACE+50”, since it is an important opportunity to renew the current status and chart the future role of the Committee. We regard all of the seven thematic priorities as important issues and are pleased to take part in its preparation based on the mechanisms and objectives which were agreed last June.
Madam Chair,
As one of the frameworks of international cooperation, I would also like to highlight the International Space Exploration Forum, or ISEF. Japan acknowledges the importance of international cooperation in the field of space exploration and appreciates the initiative of the United States as host of the ISEF meeting in 2014. It was the first-time a ministerial-level forum discussed the vision of our future space exploration programmes. Japan believes that this forum could be a mechanism for coordinating global space exploration efforts and hopes to contribute to further development of this unique forum by hosting the 2nd meeting of ISEF in early 2018.
Lastly, I would like to announce that the Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna and JAXA will co-host a reception today in honour of assuming Chair Dr. Mukai. The reception will start at 6:30pm in Salon A – C, on the ground floor of Building F. All delegations are cordially invited.
Thank you for your attention.
On behalf of the Japanese delegation, I am pleased to address the 54th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS. First of all, I would like to congratulate Dr. Mukai, for assuming the chair of this Subcommittee. I wish to stress that the Japanese delegation will support the chair and will work together with other Member States to achieve tangible results through our discussions. I would also like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Vinay Kumar Dadhwal, the former chair of this Subcommittee, for his outstanding work during his chairmanship. I would also like to welcome New Zealand as a new member of the Committee.
Madam Chair,
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce Japan’s activities and views at the national, regional and international levels.
At the national level, Japan has conducted several space activities since the last session of this Subcommittee. Four spacecraft were launched using H-IIA Launch Vehicle No.31 and 32, H-IIB Launch Vehicle No.6 and the second Epsilon Launch Vehicle, one of which is a spacecraft called the Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace, ERG, or "ARASE", in Japanese. “ARASE” was launched last December by the second Epsilon launch vehicle, with the aim of elucidating how high charged electrons are born while they generate and vanish repeatedly along with space storms caused by the disturbance of solar wind, and how space storms are developed. We hope the observation data from ERG will contribute to a better understanding of space weather.
Another notable activity is the 113-day long-duration mission on the International Space Station (ISS) by Japanese astronaut, Takuya Onishi. During his stay from July to October last year, he conducted various experiments and research, such as long-term rodent rearing mission to raise mice in orbit for 30 days and to return the living mice to the ground for further experiments. This mission will contribute to research for understanding and treating aging-related symptoms. This year in the fall, Japanese astronaut, Norishige Kanai is scheduled to be launched to the ISS for the first time, where he will also conduct valuable experiments
Last December, the 6th H-II Transfer Vehicle “KOUNOTORI” or HTV6, was successfully launched. HTV6 delivered essential cargo for ISS utilization and operation to the ISS, including Japanese-made new lithium-ion battery cells. Furthermore, there is an on-orbit demonstration planned aboard the HTV6 to demonstrate key technologies of Electrodynamic Tether, named “KITE”. This mission aims to contribute to a future debris-removal application.
Madam Chair,
At the regional level, Japan promotes the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), which is a unique forum in the region for enhancing space activities and gaining the socio-economic benefit of space technologies and their applications.
Last November from 15th to 18th, the 23rd session of APRSAF was successfully held in Manila. Under the overall theme of “Building a Future through Space Science, Technology, and Innovation”, APRSAF-23 was attended by over 570 participants from 33 countries and regions, as well as 10 international organizations. Representatives from various fields welcomed the progress of concrete activities in the areas of space technology applications, notably, the Sentinel Asia initiative, which aims to support disaster management in the Asia-Pacific region and recently marked its 10th anniversary. In addition, two other ongoing initiatives called Space Applications for Environment or SAFE, and Kibo-ABC, as well as capacity-building and educational activities are being successfully carried out within the APRSAF regional framework. Japan highly appreciates the Government of the Philippines’ cooperation as co-organizer, and will continue to further contribute to the promotion of such regional collaborations.
This year, we are pleased to announce that APRSAF-24 will be held in Bangalore, India, from 14-17 of November.
Madam Chair,
Japan is very pleased that we reached consensus on the first set of guidelines for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities last June. Ensuring the long-term sustainability of outer space activities is an important and urgent task, as expressed in the Hiroshima G7 Statement on Non-proliferation and Disarmament last April. From this viewpoint, Japan is committed to continue to contribute to constructive discussions on the guidelines.
At the international level, we were able to show tangible results from the discussions of this Subcommittee. This bolsters our view, that the Committee plays a unique and important role in promoting international cooperation and ensuring the safety of outer space environment. With the increase of space actors, including non-governmental entities, and space activities, new problems like orbital congestion and space-debris that were unexpected 50 years ago have become increasingly serious while outer space has become more important to our society and daily lives. Under these circumstances, we need to gather and share information, insights and experiences, ensure transparency and promote mutual confidence so that we can find common ground on a range of different issues for the preservation of the space environment. Japan believes the Committee is exactly the forum which enables us to do so.
In this Subcommittee, Japan also attaches great importance to the preparation of “UNISPACE+50”, since it is an important opportunity to renew the current status and chart the future role of the Committee. We regard all of the seven thematic priorities as important issues and are pleased to take part in its preparation based on the mechanisms and objectives which were agreed last June.
Madam Chair,
As one of the frameworks of international cooperation, I would also like to highlight the International Space Exploration Forum, or ISEF. Japan acknowledges the importance of international cooperation in the field of space exploration and appreciates the initiative of the United States as host of the ISEF meeting in 2014. It was the first-time a ministerial-level forum discussed the vision of our future space exploration programmes. Japan believes that this forum could be a mechanism for coordinating global space exploration efforts and hopes to contribute to further development of this unique forum by hosting the 2nd meeting of ISEF in early 2018.
Lastly, I would like to announce that the Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna and JAXA will co-host a reception today in honour of assuming Chair Dr. Mukai. The reception will start at 6:30pm in Salon A – C, on the ground floor of Building F. All delegations are cordially invited.
Thank you for your attention.