The Japanese government's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) has exchanged provisional documents on joining forces with the French national space research centre CNES, NASDA said in a statement.

They will cooperate in flight tests for the development of Japan's HOPE-X shuttle, using a smaller-scale experimental model, it said.

CNES will provide ground facilities, a balloon and other equipment for the test to be held in Sweden around 2002 while NASDA will give experiment data to the French partner.

Japan's space project has stalled especially since last November when space authorities had to explode a 24-billion-yen (229-million-dollar) H-2 rocket and satellite mid-air when the rocket's main engine failed.

The explosion was the second successive failure in the costly H-2 rocket project after a 36-million-dollar satellite was lost in space despite a successful separation from the rocket in February 1998.

The spectacular failure last year forced NASDA to postpone the launch of a next-generation H-2-A rocket from this month to between April 2000 and March 2001.

NASDA hopes to conduct the final experiment on HOPE-X in 2004 with an H-2-A rocket.

HOPE-X at NASDA Japan

Community
Email This Article
Comment On This Article

Related Links
Space

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

SPACEDAILY

Satellite Launch To Boost DTH In India
Calcutta, India (SPX) Dec 28, 2005
The successful launch Thursday of India's heaviest satellite from spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana may have boosted the country's space research efforts to yet another level, but it has also lifted the spirits of at least three Direct-To-Home televisions broadcasters, one of which has been waiting for years to launch its services in India.