With an eye on the moon, Japan will begin recruiting its first new astronauts in over a decade around autumn of next year.
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Koichi Hagiuda on Friday unveiled a recruitment plan that aims to increase the number of Japanese astronauts, as Japan will participate in the Artemis program, a U.S.-led manned lunar exploration project.
Currently, seven astronauts of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) take part in missions such as ones requiring long-term stays aboard the International Space Station, which orbits at an altitude of about 400 kilometers.
In July this year, the ministry agreed with the United States that Japanese astronauts will work aboard the "Gateway" space station to be constructed in lunar orbit as part of the Artemis program. The Japanese astronauts are thus likely to take part in lunar exploration after the second half of the 2020s.
However, the current average age of active Japanese astronauts is 50. By 2030, all but two of them will be past the retirement age of 60.
As this would make it difficult for Japan to continue participating in the planned lunar exploration, the ministry has decided to train younger astronauts while its experienced astronauts are still active.
To choose new astronaut candidates next autumn, JAXA plans to spend about a year selecting several people by screening documents and conducting aptitude tests. After that, the space agency intends to recruit more astronauts about once every five years. As it is possible that the plan will be reviewed depending on the results of the U.S. presidential election in November, specifics of the requirements for the application will be decided later.
Many current Japanese astronauts are former engineers from private companies, such as Koichi Wakata, 57, and Soichi Noguchi, 55, as well as doctors. The requirements are also likely to include physical ability, language skills and cooperativeness.
If a candidate is qualified as an astronaut after training, Japan will see its first new astronaut since the 2009 selection of the trio of former Air Self-Defense Force pilot Kimiya Yui, now 50, former All Nippon Airways pilot Takuya Onishi, now 44; and former Maritime Self-Defense Force doctor Norishige Kanai, now 43.
A new astronaut recruited this time could become the first Japanese to set foot on the moon.
"If you think you would be up for that, I want you to apply willingly," Hagiuda said at a press conference after a Cabinet meeting on Friday.
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