FOCUS: Hokkaido Spaceport Expands Role, Aiming for Asia’s Core Hub

Sapporo, Dec. 9 (Jiji Press)–Hokkaido Spaceport (HOSPO), Japan’s only rocket launch site open to the private sector, which also features a runway, is steadily raising its profile. An increasing number of domestic and overseas companies are looking at using HOSPO, located in the town of Taiki in the Tokachi region of Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, as a base for rocket launches. The spaceport is making steady progress toward its goal of becoming the “core of the space industry in Asia.” In 2019, startup Interstellar Technologies Inc. successfully launched its sounding rocket Momo No. 3, becoming the first private company in Japan to send a rocket into space and attracting nationwide attention. The launch took place in Taiki. Headquartered in the town, the company is developing its next rocket, Zero, which is designed to carry private artificial satellites into orbit. The launch of Zero is planned for 2026 at the earliest, once a new launch complex, featuring an assembly building and fuel supply facilities, has been completed at HOSPO. Overseas businesses have also started using the spaceport. In July this year, a Japanese subsidiary of a Taiwanese rocket developer launched a rocket from HOSPO, marking the first such operation in Japan by a foreign group. Currently, Tokyo-based reusable rocket developer Innovative Space Carrier Inc. and U.S. company Firefly Aerospace Inc. are in talks to use the facility in the near future. Premier Location Yoshinori Odagiri, president of Space Cotan Co., which operates HOSPO, attributes the spaceport’s growing prominence to its “overwhelming geographical advantages.” “We have built cooperative relationships with people in the local fishery industry, which is also significant,” Odagiri said, noting that, compared with other spaceports, it is easier for HOSPO to secure launch windows. In Taiki, the sea extends to the south and east, and both air and sea traffic in the surrounding area are relatively light. Combined with its high number of clear days, known locally as “Tokachi-bare,” and annual sunshine that can exceed 2,000 hours, the town offers ideal conditions for spacecraft launches. The town government began actively courting aerospace businesses 40 years ago. In 2021, as part of its ambition to become the “commercial spaceport of Asia” and to build a cluster of related industries, the town helped establish Space Cotan. With global demand for rocket launches expected to rise and launch vehicles growing in size, the company plans to expand its launch sites and related facilities further. Odagiri said he is in talks with neighboring municipalities regarding these expansion plans. Alongside Rapidus The automotive industry is eager to participate in the development of Hokkaido’s space sector, particularly in and around the town of Taiki. In June, Honda R&D Co. successfully conducted a takeoff and landing test of a reusable rocket in Taiki. Toyota Motor Corp., through group company Toyota Motor Hokkaido Inc., has also begun contributing to rocket development, by cooperating in the manufacturing of Interstellar Technologies’ Zero rocket. In August, Toyota Motor Hokkaido shipped engine fuel pumps for the vehicle for the first time, and the company plans to begin assembling complete engines as early as next spring. On the future of industrial clustering in the region, Odagiri said that “the space sector, particularly rocket engines, may emerge as a field that can make good use of advanced gasoline engine technology.” He expressed hope that the growing space industry in the Tokachi region will become a key driver of Hokkaido’s economy, alongside Rapidus Corp.’s facilities in Chitose, near the capital city of Sapporo, which aim to mass-produce cutting-edge semiconductors. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]