The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is inviting members from six space agencies in the Asia-Pacific Region to participate in the Satellite Technology for the Asia-Pacific Region (STAR) Program, which JAXA introduced at the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) held in 2007. The STAR Program will be conducted from 1 June 2009 (TBD), and activity at JAXA's Sagamihara campus has already begun. An international project team consisting of JAXA and the invited participants will now begin a three-year study of the EO-STAR (300 to 500kg) system and will develop Micro-STAR (50 to 100kg). JAXA will increase the opportunities to develop human resources in the field of satellite development for personnel from the space agencies and add to the number of Earth-observation satellites in the Asia-Pacific region through this activity. In so doing, it seeks to meet the future needs for Earth observation in this area.
