Japan, India plan joint space research project

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Japan and India plan to launch their first joint space research project this year, an experiment in growing plants in zero gravity, a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency researcher said Friday. The two Asian powers are set to launch a small and unmanned Indian-made satellite in October, carrying Japanese laboratory equipment, that is set to orbit for about one week at a height of around 600 kilometers.

Aboard the satellite they will seek to grow a type of algae, said Noriaki Ishioka, a professor for Japan’s space agency JAXA, who called the experiment a basic study on photosynthetic activity in space. “We will retrieve the satellite after a week or so and conduct genetic examinations on how the zero-gravity environment affects photosynthesis.”

While the project could eventually pave the way for “space farming,” he cautioned that the basic experiment — using a type of algae called spirulina, not related to the food supplement of the same name — was an early step.

Japan already sends astronauts to the International Space Station and has conducted a variety of space experiments in its Kibo laboratory.

But the joint project with the Indian Space Research Organization aims to allow Japan to diversify its channels for space research.