Photo/Illutration An artist’s rendition of the rocket launch pad, which is under construction in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture (Provided by Space One Co.)

KUSHIMOTO, Wakayama Prefecture--A high school here will become the first publicly run school in the nation to offer a course devoted to space studies.

Its aim is to nurture talented minds who will play a prominent role in the space industry in the future. 

The course at the prefecture-run Kushimoto Koza Senior High School will start from the academic year starting in April 2024. It will be open to students from across the country, prefectural officials said.

Kushimoto hosts the nation’s first private-sector launch pad for small rockets. The first launch is scheduled for the end of this year.

The space course will be set up as part of the general course.

The school is still working out details of its curriculum content and admission quota.

But it is planning to invite staff members from Space One Co., which will manage the rocket launch site, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to serve as instructors, in addition to offering specialized subjects on the mysteries of deep space and how rockets work.

Ahead of its opening, the school will provide lectures about space as part of its “integrated studies” program from the next academic year and add “space” as an elective from the following year.

It is also keen for its students to participate in space-related events hosted by the prefectural government.

Construction of the launch pad, dubbed Space Port Kii, is nearly completed. It will consist of a building housing mission control as well as the launch pad itself and other facilities.

Space One is scheduled to launch its first rocket in late 2022.

The company set an annual goal of launching 20 rockets, each 18 meters tall and capable of carrying a small satellite, in the mid-2020s.

The prefectural government expects the town to grow into a hub for the space industry in the future.

“We welcome space boys from across the country,” Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka said during a regular news conference where he made the announcement. “We hope to attract children interested in space and related science technology and develop their knowledge.”

He voiced his hopes that the school will provide the impetus for Kushimoto to become an industrial center where students can work after they become fully qualified in their chosen fields.

Related News