The successful launch of the privately developed Crew Dragon on Sunday signaled a new era of manned space flight development, with U.S. private companies accelerating transportation services for astronauts.
Japan is also speeding up its human resources development for future lunar exploration and other missions, including a plan to recruit new astronauts.
With Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi on board, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Sunday launched the Crew Dragon capsule from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The spacecraft was privately developed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., also known as SpaceX.
"This is a great day for the United States of America and a great day for Japan," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said at a press conference after the launch, expressing his appreciation for Japan's participation in the mission.
"We look forward to many more years of a great partnership," he said, stressing the significance of Japan-U.S. cooperation.
NASA hopes to commit to the exploration of distant objects by supporting SpaceX and other companies and outsourcing the transportation of supplies and personnel to the International Space Station (ISS) to the private sector as much as possible. It enables NASA to focus on the Artemis program to send astronauts to the moon, for which Japan has announced its participation.
Next autumn, the government and other entities plan to recruit new astronauts for the first time in 13 years.
However, there are many uncertainties over the future of the ISS and the Artemis program.
The operation period of the ISS has been extended up through 2024 among the participating nations, including Japan, the United States, some European countries and Russia, but its subsequent schedule has yet to be decided.
As China moves forward with its own space station program, the United States has begun to consider extending the ISS' operations until 2030.
The schedule of the Artemis program is also expected to change due to the transition to a new administration in Washington, among other reasons.
The Japanese government will likely be required to keep a close eye on the development in the United States and devise several strategies for securing several tens of billions of yen or more annually for developing manned space programs and training astronauts.
"Japan should steadily nurture human resources while staying in close contact with NASA to prepare for policy changes," said Ichiro Fujisaki, a former ambassador to the United States and an expert commissioner to the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry.
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