Aims To Boost Struggling Commercial Program

Japanese space agency JAXA has had a tough time lately. From the curious travails of the Hayabusa probe earlier this year -- scientists won't really know if the probe was a success or not until it lands back on earth in 2010, two years later than planned -- to the agency's current problems with its proposed SST, JAXA could use a break right now.

To that end, the agency says it is willing to give prospective launch customers a break, as well... by offering a free ride for their satellite payloads onboard its newest rocket. As long as those payloads don't exceed 110 pounds, JAXA officials say private satellites are welcome to piggyback onboard its H-2A rockets launching government satellites.

Such a program could mean big savings for anyone interested in launching a satellite on the cheap. According to an expert with Japan's University Space Engineering Consortium cited by Japan's Yomiuri newspaper, it typically costs about $5,000 per pound to launch a satellite.

The program's goal is to "expand the country's research into space development," and to "cultivate new human resources in the space arena," JAXA said in a news release this week.

First launched in August 2001, the H-2A was seen as a way for Japan to compete against the United States and the European Union for commercial satellite business. That program suffered a major setback in 2003, however, when two satellites failed to reach orbit due to a defect in the rocket's booster system --  and the rocket has yet to fly a commercial payload.

The first H-2A to fly under the program is scheduled to liftoff in 2008, according to an agency spokesperson. The satellite would piggyback onto an H-2A launching Japan's government-sponsored GOSAT satellite, designed to monitor greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

JAXA is accepting proposals from interested parties from May 11 to August 31. So far... there haven't been any takers.

FMI: www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html