ANNOUNCED "ASCA 1 MISSION," JAPAN'S FIRST ROCKET VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING EXPERIMENT IN THE U.S. BY A PRIVATE SPACE STARTUP.

INNOVATIVE SPACE CARRIER INC.(CHUO-KU, TOKYO; CEO; KOJIRO HATADA, HEREAFTER REFERRED TO AS “ISC”) IS “A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE AND CARGO ARE DELIVERED EVERY DAY. WE ARE A START-UP COMPANY THAT AIMS TO REALIZE A TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM THAT MAKES SPACE POSSIBLE, WITH THE VISION OF “MAKING SUCH THINGS POSSIBLE IN SPACE. ( REUSABLE) IS A START-UP COMPANY THAT AIMS TO REALIZE A TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM THAT MAKES SPACE POSSIBLE.

ISC IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE OUTLINE OF THE ASCA 1 (ASCA ONE) MISSION, WHICH IS SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES WITHIN 2025. THE MISSION IS THE FIRST VERTICAL TAKEOFF AND LANDING SPACE ROCKET LAUNCH AND LANDING TEST FOR A PRIVATE SPACE STARTUP IN JAPAN. IT WILL ALSO BE JAPAN’S FIRST LAUNCH TEST IN THE UNITED STATES.

IN ADDITION, ON MAY 28 (WED.), A SIGNING CEREMONY WAS HELD WITH JFE ENGINEERING CORPORATION (PRESIDENT: KAZUMI FUKUDA, HEAD OFFICE: CHIYODA-KU, TOKYO; HEREINAFTER “JFEE”) FOR A BASIC AGREEMENT TO UTILIZE JFEE’S RESOURCES, AND THE DEVELOPMENT BASE “TSURUMI BASE FOR FUTURE SPACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS” WAS OPENED TO THE PRESS FOR THE FIRST TIME.

 

 

ASCA Mission Overview
The “ASCA Mission” is ISC’s core project for the development of reusable launch vehicles, aiming at higher frequency and lower cost space transportation. ASCA 1.0 is the initial phase of the ASCA Mission, which aims to climb to an altitude of 0.1 km or higher and land at the target site within a margin of error of 5 m. The purpose of the ASCA Mission is to acquire data through this experiment.

THE “ASCA 1.0” TEST TO BE CONDUCTED THIS TIME WILL BEGIN CONCEPTION (DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING) IN OCTOBER 2024, AND DEVELOPMENT IS UNDERWAY WITH THE AIM OF CONDUCTING A LAUNCH TEST IN THE UNITED STATES BY THE END OF 2025.

NORMALLY, EVEN ROCKET LAUNCH TESTS IN THE EARLY STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING PROCEED ON A YEARLY SCHEDULE. ONE OF THE FACTORS THAT ENABLED ASCA 1.0 TO BE LAUNCHED IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME IS THE AGILE DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM ADOPTED BY ISC. UNLIKE CONVENTIONAL WATERFALL DEVELOPMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND VERIFICATION ARE ITERATED IN STAGES, AND FEEDBACK IS IMMEDIATELY REFLECTED.

FOLLOWING THE “ASCA 1.0” MISSION ANNOUNCED THIS TIME, “ASCA 1.1,” WHICH WILL CONDUCT SUBORBITAL FLIGHT EXPERIMENTS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2027, AND “ASCA 1.2,” WHICH WILL CONDUCT SATELLITE ORBIT INSERTION EXPERIMENTS IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2028, ARE PLANNED, AIMING FOR GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE COMMERCIALIZATION.

 

ASCA 1.0″ Test Schedule]
・Planed launch test date: Within 2025
・Flight altitude: 0.1 km
・Purpose: Demonstration of vertical takeoff and landing
・Features:
1. 2 Hadley engines (manufactured by Ursa Major Technologies, USA)
2. Approximately 40% of the airframe mass is manufactured using a 3D printer
*Metal 3D printers are used for manufacturing 3. The largest scale 3D printer manufacturing in Japan
3. Adoption of Model Predictive Control (MPC)
High-precision control is implemented by adopting “Model Predictive Control (MPC)” for takeoff/landing guidance
4.
Autonomous flight safety measures are taken when airframe integrity and flight path abnormalities are detected.
・Place: Spaceport America (New Mexico, USA)
*First vertical takeoff and landing experiment by a Japanese private space start-up company at this facility in Japan.

 

■ Signing Ceremony of Basic Agreement with JFEE and New Development Base “Tsurumi Base”
On Wednesday, May 28, ISC and JFEE signed a basic agreement for cooperation in development. The two companies will cooperate in manufacturing facilities for rocket assembly operations and share their accumulated knowledge of precision machining and mechanical assembly. At the same signing ceremony, JFEE’s newly established development base “Future Space Transportation Systems Tsurumi Base,” located within the Tsurumi Works, was opened to the press for the first time. Mr. Toda, Senior Managing Executive Officer of JFEE, and Mr. Hatada, ISC representative, guided the media on a tour of the base.

 

 

CEO President Kojiro Hatada comments
The “ASCA1 Mission” is a major step forward in our efforts to develop a reusable launch vehicle. The main components will be developed in Japan, and the fuel tank will be developed in cooperation with Cranfield University in the U.K. The rocket system will be shipped to the U.S., combined with the Hadley engine developed by Ursa Major Technologies, Inc. in the U.S., completed, and flight tested. This will be a global challenge. We are pleased to have reached an agreement with JFEE to open the Tsurumi Base in Japan. Although numerous challenges still lie ahead, all of us will work together to realize a space transportation system that will be indispensable for the growth of the space industry into a new core industry of Japan.

 

 

Shinichi Toda, Senior Managing Executive Officer, JFE Engineering Corporation comments
Our Tsurumi Works has abundant technology and know-how in can manufacturing, machining, and assembly of large industrial machinery. In addition to this, we are actively incorporating the latest manufacturing technologies, such as the introduction of several metal laminated molding machines suitable for the aerospace industry, and are taking on the challenge of creating new products by combining conventional machining technologies. This combination of conventional and state-of-the-art technologies is one of our major strengths.
Based on this agreement, MHI plans to cooperate in a wide range of areas, including the provision of manufacturing facilities for rocket assembly operations. With a view to participating in the establishment of a mass production system in the future, we are committed to ISC’s vision of “a world where people and cargo can be delivered every day. We will continue to work hard to realize ISC’s vision of “a world where people and cargo can be delivered every day, even in space. We will continue to actively develop space-related businesses by leveraging our strengths to realize ISC’s vision of “a world where people and cargo are delivered every day, even in space,” and contribute to strengthening the supply chain and competitiveness of Japan’s space industry and creating new value.

 

 

■ISC COMPANY PROFILE　　　
Corporate Name: Innovative Space Carrier Inc.
English name: Innovative Space Carrier Inc.
Representative: Kojiro Hatada, CEO
Head office address: 1-4-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Nihonbashi 1-chome Mitsui Bldg. 5F
Date of establishment: May 2, 2022
Total funding: 1.22 billion yen
Business: Planning and study for commercialization of innovative space transportation systems
URL:https://innovative-space-carrier.co.jp/

 

 

Kojiro Hatada, President & CEO Biography
ispace, Inc. and ArkEdge Space, Inc. is an outside director of ispace, Inc. and ArkEdge Space, Inc. After graduating from the Graduate School of Energy Science and Technology, Kyoto University in 2004 (Master’s degree), he joined the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). After working on energy and industrial policies, he was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2012 to work at the Delegation of Japan to the European Union and the Embassy of Japan in Belgium, and in 2015, he was transferred to the Secretariat for Strategic Promotion of Space Activities, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, where he was involved in the establishment of the Space Activities Act, the formulation of the Space Industry Vision 2030, and the creation of the space business idea contest S-Booster. In 2017, he returned to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and established J-Startup, a new startup support program. He was engaged in launching programs, etc. and established Digital Hearts Plus Inc. in 2019.In May 2022, he founded Innovative Space Carrier Inc. and assumed the position of CEO.

 

 

■JFEE COMPANY PROFILE　　

Corporate name: JFE Engineering Corporation
English name: JFE Engineering Corporation
Representative: Kazumi Fukuda, President and CEO
Head office address: 2-2-3 Uchisaiwai-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
22F Hibiya Kokusai Bldg.
Established: April 2003
Capital: 10 billion yen
Business activities: Construction/fabrication and operation of social infrastructure including environment, energy, steel structures, and industrial machinery
URL: https://www.jfe-eng.co.jp/

 

■Business Description
The company was established in 2003 as an engineering business company of the JFE Group under JFE Holdings, which was established through the business integration of NKK and Kawasaki Steel Corporation. The company develops and operates a wide range of social infrastructure, including environmental and energy plants, bridges, and steel structures. By providing products and services based on the Group’s comprehensive strength and advanced technological capabilities, the company aims to adapt to the changing times and constantly strive to be a world-leading engineering company.

 

■Tsurumi Works
This is JFE Engineering’s machinery-related manufacturing base that has large machine tools and quayside facilities and manufactures large industrial machinery such as shield tunneling machines, diesel engines, and steam turbines. In recent years, the company has introduced cutting-edge technologies such as metal 3D printers and continues to take on the challenge of new manufacturing by combining them with the machining technologies it has cultivated over many years.

 

 

 

reference photograph

 

 

 

■We are actively recruiting human resources!

We want to go to space from Japan.
We take on the challenge.
Aerospace technology x Knowledge of different industries x Backcast thinking
Create new industries with an eye on the future.
Let’s do work that is worth the challenge of our lives.

 

Click here for the employment page:
https://www.wantedly.com/companies/company_9146989

 

For business partnerships and other inquiries, click here
https://innovative-space-carrier.co.jp/contact/

 

■We are accepting “advanced applications” for space travel

Please follow this link to register.
https://forms.gle/TDc8HpdcR2zCU41t9