NASA In Talks With Japan Over New Spacecraft
NASA officials have begun talks with Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to purchase units of a cargo transfer spacecraft to be the successor to the U.S. space shuttle.
According to Yomiuri, a Japanese newspaper, the sale would be the largest contract deal in the 50-year history of the Japanese space agency.
The 14 billion yen ($131 million) H-2 Transfer Vehicle is being developed by JAXA, and domestic corporations including Mitsubishi Electric, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The companies are also developing the H-2B vehicle that will be used to launch the spacecraft.
NASA wishes to buy several of these units to replace the current U.S. space shuttle when it is retired in 2010.
The motivations behind NASA’s involvement is the concern that the retirement of the U.S. space shuttle will make it difficult to deliver food, water, and materials to the International Space Station.
According to Yomiuri, NASA began a project in April to assist domestic U.S. companies’ in their development of a successor spacecraft to replace the space shuttle. It is still doubtful that the new spacecraft will be complete by the 2010 deadline.
The H-2 Transfer Vehicle is capable of transporting 6 tons of cargo and will be released next fall.Â
JAXA could not be reached for a comment on the matter, but Yomiuri quoted the Japanese agency as saying it has been in discussions with the U.S. since February.
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