Japan interested in satellite launching from Vostochny Cosmodrome
Russia offers Japan to use its spaceport for launching satellites and performing other related projects. The partnership seems to be mutually beneficial: Japan gets access to the low-cost Russian rockets and Russia recovers Vostochny's construction costs. The countries are also looking for the other ways to cooperate.
Japan and Russia have been discussing the possibility of cooperation in the space-related areas, according to The Japan News. Main expectations are related to the joint use of the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Oblast in the Far East of Russia. The partnership will include satellite launching and other collaborative high-tech projects.
The idea of cooperation was proposed by Russia in the beginning of September and Japan has been examining it for almost a month. For Japan, the use of the Russian location for launching satellites means the expansion of their space programme in the private sector, for instance, in communication and observation satellites. Besides, space-related partnership with Russia can help Japan in discovering new sales opportunities for companies that produce high-tech devices like solar panels and sensors.
Russia is also highly interested in the collaboration. The Vostochny was supposed to become an alternative to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Now, Baikonur is the main launch place operated by Russia and it costs $115,000,000 a year. The construction of Vostochny began in 2011 and is expected to end by 2018. The expenses were estimated at about 400bn rubles in 2009, and now more than 300bn have already been spent. So, Russia is interested in attracting foreign countries to recoup the construction costs. The new site is significant for the region's economy as well: the spaceport can increase employment in the nearby cities.
Both Russia and Japan are aimed to discuss all the projects thoroughly as there is a possibility of military usage of the satellites or rockets. The Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Higoshige Seko, who is responsible for the economic cooperation with Russia, is expected to visit Moscow in November. There are plans to gather a working group to continue the project's development.
The space sector is not the only one being discussed by the two countries. The governments are looking for the other ways to expand the bilateral cooperation. The eight-point partnership plan was presented by the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Sochi in May 2016, and this Sunday Abe has met with the Russian delegation headed by the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Arkady Dvorkovich in Kyoto. The head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov also participated in the meeting. Tatarstan has an experience in implementation of joint projects with Japanese enterprises Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Sojitz Corporation, and the Republic is interested in attracting more business contacts from Japan.