Japan's High-Speed Flight Demonstration programme enters its second phase later this month with a spaceplane model being carried to an altitude of 19 miles (30km) and released by a balloon operated by the French space agency. The test will be conducted at Swedish Space's Esrange site.
The 500kg (1,100lb), 2.7m (8.9ft)-long, 25%-scale model of the proposed Hope-X unmanned spaceplane is being developed by Japan's National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) and National Space Development Agency (NASDA). It will gather transonic flight data and demonstrate an autonomous landing with parachute and airbag system. Take-off and landing tests with a jet-powered model were conducted last year from Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean.
The Hope unmanned orbiter was designed for launch on Japan's H2A expendable booster, but NASDA and NAL have now embarked on a programme to develop a semi-reusable two-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle.
Japan's JSAT has awarded Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems a contract to build the JCSAT 9 communications satellite, which is to be launched in 2005.Source: Flight International
