The Fishermen's Problem
The rockets' impact points are located near an area where
many Japanese fishermen operate. There were no problems while ISAS was
only launching sounding rockets for academic use, but as soon as NASDA's
predecessor started launches for applicational use in 1963, the fishermen
lodged complaints with the Japanese Government against these infringements
to their fishing rights. ISAS was caught up in the trouble. The negotiations
prevented ISAS from launching any rockets in 1967-1968.
Due to the fishermen's problem, the launches of sounding
rockets from KSC and Tanegashima Space Center are limited to two periods,
January to February and August to September, every year. Since the fishermen's
problem began, the annual rate of sounding rocket launches has been around
four or five. Subjects of observation have been selected from the fields
of aeronomy, magnetospheric physics, astronomy and astrophysics. |
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