Space BD to Start Space Delivery Project with Global Research & Educational Institutions and Private Sector to Launch Research Objects & Mementos

TOKYO (Space BD PR) — The leading Japanese space  startup Space BD announced the start of the Space  Delivery Project to launch and expose to outer space  various items such as research materials, photographs, and illustrations collected from 10 research institutes, educational institutions, and private companies in Japan and overseas.

The primary purpose of this project is research by academic institutions. In addition, mementos produced by private companies and educational institutions will also be exposed to outer space and returned to Earth. The items will be carried to the International Space Station (ISS) via the ISS resupply vehicle by the end of fiscal year 2021.

About the Space Delivery Project

The Space Delivery Project utilizes a new external experiment facility: ExBAS. ExBAS will be installed on the IVA-replaceable Small Exposed Experiment Platform (i-SEEP) on the ISS Japanese Experiment Module Kibo.

Space BD has taken the lead in inviting a wide range of organizations to participate in the project and is providing a variety of support, including for the selection of objects and their launch & return to Earth. In the first Space Delivery Project, Space BD will deliver various items such as research materials, photographs, and illustrations collected from a total cohort of ten private companies and research institutions.

Space BD has jointly developed ExBAS with JAXA since 2020. Space BD will broaden the scope for space exposure from simply covering research purposes, the main focus to date, to also include more general utilization. This is  expected to expand the horizons of the possible use of space.

Timeline

• September 2021: All items will be delivered to JAXA
• By the end of FY2021: All items will be delivered to the International Space Station. The items will be exposed to outer space for 6 months
• June 2022: The items will be returned to the inside of the ISS, and return to Earth

Comment from Genki Hiraga, Business Development at Space BD:

As part of our efforts to open up the ISS to the private sector, I am glad to have ten participants from various fields, including domestic and international research institutes, educational institutions, and private companies. Of course this exposure of materials will be mainly for research and development purposes, but beyond that, we at Space BD hope that we can convey the dreams of people around the world, especially the younger generations who will lead the future in space, along with these mementos, and in so doing contribute to expanding the horizons of how we use space.

I would also like to mention that this project would not have been possible without the support of our partner companies, who take pride in their high level technological abilities.

Space Delivery Project Participating Organizations

Adamant Namiki Precision Jewel Co., Ltd. (Japan) (Research purpose)
Industrial diamonds

Kyoto University (Japan) (Research purpose)
Wood specimens and polyurethane resin to check durability in space to launch a wooden satellite

Clark Memorial International High School (Japan) (Memento)
Aluminum plate with engraved logo panel of the school name

Space SAGA (Japan) (Memento)
Aluminum plate engraved with a QR code to the official website of Geo-Gastronomy, a food system that interacts with the Earth

Sompo Holdings, Inc.
(Japan) 〈Memento) Aluminum plates printed with photos selected from among the photos of memories collected from the public during the campaign  

Tanpopo mission research team (Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Yokohama National University, Hokkaido University, Universität Wien, etc.) (Japan) (Research purpose)
Bio-organic synthesis and microbial viability in space environment to elucidate the origin, migration and survival of life in space.

TOAGOSEI CO., LTD. (Japan) (Research purpose) 
Space experiment on the Aron Alpha glue

Hachinohe Institute of Technology Daiichi High School (Japan) (Educational materials)
Student handmade aluminum plates with character designs of foxes from local folktales, engraved on NC milling machines

Airvantis (Brazil) (Memento)
Aluminum plate with engraved corporate logo

Toucan Space (France) (Memento)
A bundle of paper signed by notables

Space Delivery Project Collaborators

Adachi Textile Co., Ltd.
Contracted for vacuum packing at a level as close to outer space as possible to protect objects that are not space environment resistant.

Core Machinery, Inc.
Contracted to produce a variety of commemorative aluminum sheets, using the company’s specialized surface processing technology to express complex designs on aluminum sheets.

Sagami Coating Ltd.
Contracted for the atomic oxygen resistant coating necessary to maintain the design of commemorative aluminum plates after exposure to space.

TOAGOSEI CO., LTD.
Providing an atomic oxygen resistant coating agent developed jointly with JAXA, which is needed to protect the commemorative aluminum plates.

YUKI Precision Co., Ltd.
Contracted to manufacture the frame plates for fixing each object to the side part of ExBAS.

WEL Research Co., Ltd.
Contracted for the bonding of the temperature sensor required to measure the temperature of ExBAS.

Takenouchi Industrial Textile Corp.
Contracted to manufacture cloth boxes necessary for storing the subject items.

Kyoso Technoshudan
Contracted to fabricate aluminum frames and shafts for securing wood exposure test specimens.

KOGEI STANDARD
Contracted for the processing of wood test pieces for exposure.

Hokkaido Research Organization
Providing wood for exposure.