Japan space policy review

The Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has started a review of Japanese space policy. The two main areas under study are current limitations on the military use of space and “the role of compartmentalized bureaucracy in the lack of cooperation among ministries and agencies.” The former issue, which dates back to the late 1960s, has not prevented Japan from launching reconnaissance satellites (one pair is in orbit today, while a second pair was lost in an H-2A launch failure; a third pair is planned for launch later this year), and it’s not clear from the article what changes the LDP has in mind. The lack of coordination among Japanese government agencies—which was supposed to be remedied, or at least reduced, by the merger of three agencies into JAXA a few years ago—has led some to worry about the health of the Japanese space industry over the long term. One option: create a “state minister for space development” and a council to oversee space policy. A final report from this review is scheduled to be completed in August.