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Selected as Provider of General Survival Training in the Basic Training Program for Japanese Astronaut Candidates Leveraging experience nurturing talent & education business results accumulated since founding to foster teamwork and leadership skills required for astronauts
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Japanese astronaut candidates (Left: Makoto Suwa, Right: Ayu Yoneda) Provided by JAXA
Tokyo—Space BD, a leading Japanese space startup, announces our selection by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in the proposal competition to become the provider of general survival training, which is a component of the basic training program for Japanese astronaut candidates.
Space BD will leverage the knowhow that we have accumulated through our talent nurturing & education business, and in this training for the Japanese astronaut candidates we plan for the candidates to gain not only survival skills but also exercise their teamwork and leadership skills in an environment with high levels of physical and mental stress.
In November 2021, for the first time in 13 years JAXA kicked off an application round for new astronaut candidates, and Makoto Suwa and Ayu Yoneda were selected as astronaut candidates. They are currently undergoing basic training for their astronaut certification, and one of the components of that training, general survival training, is scheduled to begin in or after 2024. Space BD, in partnership with the Scout Association of Japan and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, will conduct the overall planning, implementation, and assessment of the general survival training.
The aim of this training is to help astronaut candidates gain the survival skills they may need in the climate and weather conditions that may occur during missions as astronauts in the future. The field training is expected to include making decisions on the priority actions to take when placed in an isolated situation and practical survival skills utilizing items found in their natural surroundings. In addition, this training is designed to enhance and strengthen mission execution skills (self-management, communication, situational awareness, leadership, problem solving, teamwork, multitasking, etc.) in preparation for future international space exploration missions, and to cultivate an attitude befitting a member of an international team.
In our seven years of operation as a space startup, Space BD has provided entrepreneurial education leveraging real experiences in management and business. We have provided our talent nurturing & education business on the theme of space, which is the embodiment of taking on the challenge of the unknown and a global stage, while leveraging the asset that is our main businesses, namely the Satellite Launch Business and International Space Station (ISS) Utilization Business. In the Space x Education Business, in addition to practical workshops in our satellite experience program for high school students to gain practical skills, the ability to ask questions, and insight into co-creation, we also offer educational programs through Space BD’s satellite launch service in which high school students take the initiative in satellite development and can gain hands-on experience of the entire process from launch to operations.
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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 November 2023, Space BD’s performance record marked over 70 satellite projects and over 450 orders.