00:04Japan is one of the world's most advanced space nations.
00:08Today in Tokyo we are going to meet two key players in the aerospace industry.
00:17Space isn't just about exploration anymore.
00:21With hundreds of satellites launching every year,
00:24Earth's orbit is becoming very crowded,
00:26and keeping it safe is now one of the biggest challenges.
00:29After decades of launches, thousands of broken satellites and rocket fragments stay in orbit.
00:36Even a small piece of debris can cause catastrophic damage.
00:40AstroScale's Japan branch develops technologies to prevent dangerous space debris collisions,
00:45and Executive Vice President Miki Ito leads its missions to keep Earth's orbit safe.
01:17If space is filled with debris, it could become unusable.
01:21Putting essential services like GPS, broadband, and banking at risk.
01:26AstroScale's last mission, ADRAS-J, is a world-fast commercial attempt to approach and inspect a large piece of debris,
01:34opening the way for safe removal.
01:36The first part of the AdRAS-J is the first part of the AdRAS-J is the first part of
01:50the AdRAS-J.
02:04AdRAS-J is developed in partnership with Japan's space agency JAXA through the CRD-2 program,
02:12which aims to turn debris removal technology into real-world commercial services.
02:17AdRAS-J is now a firm.
02:45After completing its first inspection phase, Address J mission now moves to Phase 2,
02:51de-orbiting the large debris from its original orbital altitude, a rare example of public
02:57and private sectors working together to make space more sustainable.
03:01Japan's role in space technology goes beyond debris removal. One company is transforming
03:07the way satellites stay connected to Earth. Let's find out more.
03:11Naomi Korohara's Tokyo startup, Infrastella, tackles another growing challenge, communication.
03:17With more satellites launching every year, there simply aren't enough ground antennas to keep them
03:23connected. Her company is rethinking how this infrastructure works.
03:28The leads are owners of ground stations and then the owners directly leads or let satellite operators
03:37to use their facilities. However, our uniqueness is that we are a platformer. So we provide a
03:46software platform to connect various ground stations. Faster links means satellites can send more images
03:55more often, crucial for climate monitoring and disaster response. By sharing existing antennas
04:01instead of building new ones, the system also lowers costs and opens space operations to smaller companies
04:07and research teams. Our platform makes it easy to start space business. And then if we can get more space
04:18businesses,
04:19we may have more great and game-changing space business in the future. So in that sense, I think we
04:29are
04:29democratizing the space industry to get more players.
04:33Kurohara's ambition is to lower the barriers to space, helping new companies grow and shaping the next
04:40generation of the space economy. Japan is protecting critical orbital infrastructure, clearing debris
04:48and boosting communications, innovations which are shaping global space and solving real world challenges.
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