Doubling the scale of Japan's space industry and exploring lunar resources were approved in the new Basic Plan on Space Policy during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The plan, which outlines space policy for the next 10 years, also includes the strengthening of the security sector, taking into consideration the development of technology for satellites with missile detection capabilities.
Japan's space industry lags behind the United States, Europe and China in terms of budget, which has remained in the 300 billion yen range for the past 10 years. The U.S. space-related budget is in the several trillions of yen.
The new plan, the first revision in five years, lays out a policy to expand the private sector's participation in space development and space-related enterprises. The plan calls for doubling the domestic space industry's market size, which currently stands at about 1.2 trillion yen, by the early 2030s.
Regarding lunar exploration, the government is clearly stating in its policy the desire to secure opportunities for Japanese astronauts to work on NASA's Artemis program under which the United States is aiming to again put astronauts on the moon by 2024. The government will also promote the exploration of the moon to discover water, which is expected to be at its north and south poles.
In the security sector, Japan has decided to strengthen cooperation with the United States in space surveillance and increase the number of intelligence-gathering satellites in response to China's tests to destroy satellites in space and other developments.
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