News
Second Round of Space Delivery Project “RETURN to EARTH” With Global Boys Group JO1 as Official Ambassadors Returns to Earth
The plate surfaces changed after exposure to cosmic and ultraviolet rays during approx. 3-month journey in space
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Selection of payload items: (Left) Prior to launch (Right) After exposure to space and return to Earth
Tokyo—Space BD, a leading Japanese space startup, would like to announce that the payload items in the second round of the Space Delivery Project “RETURN to EARTH,” with the global boys group JO1 as the official ambassadors, have been returned to Earth and inspection by the relevant authorities, including NASA & JAXA, is now complete. The items were launched to the ISS on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, and after a journey in space lasting approximately 3 months, the items were returned to Earth on Friday, June 30, 2023.
Removal of items from outer space into the interior of the ISS.
Source: JAXA/NASA
Payload items floating within the ISS. Source: JAXA/NASA
The payload items sent into space were attached to the exposed facility of ISS on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, where they were exposed to cosmic and ultraviolet rays while travelling approximately 7.9 km/second (28,000 km/hour) at an altitude of approximately 400 km above the Earth’s surface. At this speed one orbit of the Earth takes about 90 minutes, with about 16 orbits per day. Now the second round of payload items for this project have returned to Earth, with the added value of their time in space, and in addition to use for research & development, education, and PR purposes, for some of the items there are plans to develop new products in a novel way to make use of space, for example through use in traditional crafts and for entertainment purposes.
■Comment from Hoshiko Nakata, Business Development Engineer, Space BD
I am thrilled about this announcement of the safe return to Earth of the second round of payload items in the Space Delivery Project “RETURN to EARTH.” In this second round we were able to expand the use of space beyond what we achieved in the first round, with the support of many stakeholders, including partner companies and JAXA. Thank you all so much.
There are a variety of exciting plans to make use of these items now that they are back on Earth, so we hope you will keep an eye out for future announcements.
■Payload items
Items (research and development materials, company logos, promotional items, etc.) from 13 research centers, educational institutions, and private sector companies located in Japan and abroad were in the payload.
Participating organizations: JO1, JCI Kanazawa, Gifu Prefectural Government, Greenspoon Inc., Colombia Sportswear Japan Company, Space SAGA, Tampopo 5 Research Team (Fukuoka Institute of Technology and others), Electronic Materials Business Division of Panasonic Industry Co., Ltd., Hanamaki Space Project “UP Hanamaki,” Fuji Polymer Industries Co., Toucan Space SAS
■Space Delivery Project “RETURN to EARTH”
This project makes use of the small simple exposure experiment device (ExBAS/developed jointly with JAXA) installed in the medium exposure experiment adapter (i-SEEP) of the ISS Kibo. Space BD called for participation among a wide range of organizations and is providing a variety of support, including the item selection, launch, and the return to Earth.
▼Space Delivery Project introductory video
▼Past news releases about the Space Delivery Project Round Two
June 22, 2022
Space BD Space Delivery Project “RETURN to EARTH” Payload for second launch is finalized.
Launch to ISS scheduled by the end of FY 2022 and payload to return to Earth by end of FY 2023.
March 15, 2023
■About Space BD
We at Space BD are a one-stop provider of solutions for those in the space utilization field. Not only can we deliver payloads to space by a variety of methods and facilitate the use of International Space Station assets, but we can also assist with everything from business plans to hands-on technical operations. As of February 2023, Space BD’s performance record marked over 70 satellite projects and over 300 orders.
U R L：https://space-bd.com/en/