A Taiwanese startup aims to become the first foreign company to launch a rocket from Japan early next year, a plan that industry advocates say will help Tokyo become an Asian space hub.
TiSpace’s planned suborbital launch has faced regulatory hurdles and delays amid questions about whether Japan should conduct foreign business as part of its drive to double the size of its ¥4 trillion ($26 billion) space industry over the next decade.
The private company, co-founded in 2016 by current and former officials from Taiwan’s space agency, has yet to have a successful launch. Its most recent attempt to launch a rocket, via sister company AtSpace in Australia in 2022, failed due to an oxidizer leak. The rocket being tested in Japan is a different design.
