TAIKI, Hokkaido--While many towns in the United States lay claim to the moniker “Spacetown USA,” a town of about 5,400 people here may be in line to be called “Spacetown Japan.”

“Our space-themed community development efforts are beginning to pay off,” said Masato Sakamori, the 63-year-old mayor of Taiki, which is located on the Pacific coastline in southeastern Hokkaido.

With demand growing worldwide for launching satellite-carrying rockets, the local community here is pinning hopes on space-related businesses to serve as a launching point for regional revitalization.

Construction of a “spaceport” rocket launch complex, which started in September, is expected to be finished by the end of fiscal 2023.

Town officials hope the facility will create more jobs by attracting rocket- and satellite-related businesses and also attract tourists.

Once completed, the complex will be part of Hokkaido Spaceport (HOSPO) and will be used to launch rockets for carrying private-sector satellites into outer space, among other things.

An adjacent plot of land already hosts a compact launch site. Three rockets have been sent from there into space, including the nation’s first private-sector rocket that flew above the altitude of 100 kilometers in 2019.

The rockets launched so far were super-compact and were not designed to carry satellites. HOSPO will enter into full operation as a spaceport when the new launch complex is finished.

HOSPO is operated by Space Cotan Co., in which the town government holds a stake.

“The spaceport will serve as a core for industries to spread out around, which will help increase the population, create more jobs and make Hokkaido livelier,” said Yoshinori Odagiri, 59, the president of Space Cotan, who hails from the aviation industry.

Since 1985, the town of Taiki has paraded out the slogan of “space town development” by drawing on such strengths as the prevalence of fine weather, which is typical of Hokkaido’s Tokachi region, and the town’s location on the ocean.

The ongoing work to build the launch complex and related facilities is expected to cost a total of 2.32 billion yen ($16 million).

Half of that sum will be covered by a central government grant aimed at community revitalization. The rest will be covered by donations to come from businesses under the central government’s “regional revitalization support tax system.”

Interstellar Technologies Inc. (IST), a start-up based in Taiki, is developing the first rocket to be put up from the new launch complex. The “Zero,” as the rocket model is called, is designed to carry a satellite.

The Zero is so compact that it can only carry a small satellite, but it comes with the advantage of a low launch cost of 600 million yen or less.

It is not uncommon for a rocket made by a major manufacturer to cost several billions of yen, or even more, to launch.

“Our compact rocket model could be compared to a taxi because it can be launched whenever the customer wants,” said Takahiro Inagawa, 35, the president of IST. “Our initial goal is to mass-produce the rocket model for 10 prospective launches a year.”

GLOBAL ROCKET LAUNCH RACE

Plans for developing spaceports are under way in many parts of Japan.

A launch site for compact rockets is under construction in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, with the first launch being planned toward the end of this year.

There is a plan for using a runway at Oita Airport in Kunisaki, Oita Prefecture, as a horizontal spaceport. A plan is also under way for using Shimojishima Airport in Miyakojima, Okinawa Prefecture, as a spaceport.

There is a global competition for launching more rockets.

Figures from the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies show there were 146 rocket launches around the world in 2021, up 70 percent from five years earlier, as there is rising demand for satellite communications and satellite observation data, with society going more and more digital.

Demand for compact, low-cost rockets will remain strong in the years to come, experts say.

Rocket launches have long been under the oligopoly of the United States, Europe, China and Russia.

However, the launches of Russia’s Soyuz rockets were suspended after the country invaded Ukraine, leaving Russia’s share of the launches up for grabs by other nations.

Concerned parties in Japan see a business opportunity in the development and are pinning hopes on spaceports as a catalyst for an upsurge.

The central government said in May that it will increase capabilities for launching rockets in the country.

Tokyo plans to play catch-up by accelerating the development of the H3 Launch Vehicle, being undertaken by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., and by helping private businesses develop compact rocket models.