- The unstoppable international race to explore Deep Space led the Japanese space agency JAXA to send a probe to Venus, whose data it has been processing for years, because it is a planet with the same gravity as Earth and much closer than Mars.
- JAXA will share space news and strategies at SUTUS 23, the most important international event on Space Tourism, which takes place September 26-28 at Les Roches Marbella.
- Chiharu Hoshino, Deputy Director of the Paris office of the Japanese space agency (JAXA), will represent Japan at SUTUS by Les Roches.
Marbella, September 12th 2023.
The Japanese space agency (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency-JAXA) is one of the leading players in the aerospace industry worldwide and is a reference in asteroid research or the possible human exploration of the Moon and Mars. But what about Venus?
“PLANET-C” is the first space probe that Japan launched in 2010 towards Venus, but did not arrive until 2015. Now, more than eight years later, JAXA has billions of data on this planet, which has the same gravity as Earth and is much closer than Mars.
“AKATSUKI”, as the “PLANET-C” probe is familiarly called in Tokyo, has already made several discoveries, such as that the temperature on the surface of Venus (over 400 degrees Celsius) would be unfeasible for humans, but that at an altitude of between 40 and 85 kilometers, the atmosphere and gravity would apparently be viable for ‘sapiens’.
Specifically, an international project called “Humans2Venus” is already working on the idea that a space station could house about 1,000 humans by the 2050s at an altitude of about 50 kilometers above the surface of Venus.
The Japanese space agency will explain these and other advances from September 26 to 28 at SUTUS by Les Roches, which for the fourth year will bring together in Marbella the main international space agencies, including NASA, JAXA and the recently created Spanish Space Agency (AEE).
Space exploration in low orbit… and beyond
The Japanese space agency will be represented at SUTUS 23 by Chiharu Hoshino, Deputy Director Paris Office of JAXA.
Hoshino accumulates almost 10 years of experience in the Japanese space agency. In 2014 she joined the Tanegashima Space Center, current launch site of the H-IIA- and H-IIB- rockets, in charge of the Space Transportation Technology Directorate. Since 2022, she is the Deputy Director at JAXA’s Paris Office.
Under the motto ‘Explore to Realize‘ the Japanese agency is once again landing at SUTUS to present space exploration activities, in addition to future strategies for low orbit (LEO) and deep space. His talk will present JAXA’s approach to active exploration of the Moon and Mars, as well as future projects beyond these, including Venus.
JAXA’s ambitious new objectives
Lunar exploration is one of the clearest bets for JAXA. Through the ‘SLIM’ project, they have designed a small-scale exploration lander to perform precise lunar landings on the surface of the Moon, with the equipment used in these landers being smaller than previous ones and thus improving the performance of the mission. It will also test fundamental technology for low-gravity environments, an important requirement for future scientific research in the solar system.
Mars is another of the places JAXA plans to examine. They intend to bring 10 grams of the surface of Phobos (the largest Martian satellite) for further investigation. The launch of a ‘Martian Moons eXploration’ would take place in 2024 and it would not be until 2029 when the debris could be inspected.
SUTUS 2023 by Les Roches
All SUTUS by Les Roches conferences can be followed through its virtual platform, powered by ‘The Observatory’ of Medina Media Events. Attendees will be able to schedule video meetings with other participants and speakers, as well as visit exclusive online demos.
SUTUS 2023 by Les Roches, under the slogan “Beyond natural borders”, is supported by the Ministry of Tourism of the Andalusian Government, Tourism and Planning of the Costa del Sol, Halo Space, Karlos Simón Viajes y Expediciones, Acosol and Above Space.
As a subscriber, you will get a 20% discount. Enter the code SUTUS23 and click on Validate in the registration form.