The recent launch on January 24th of lightning observation satellite SOHLA-1 has fueled interest among Kansai area universities in developing small satellites for various purposes.

A rocket carrying eight satellites was successfully launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The satellites were released from the H-2A No. 15 rocket shortly after the launch, which was conducted by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. According to the Daily Yomiuri Online, researchers at Osaka Prefecture University and Osaka University, both of which helped develop SOHLA 1 — also known as Maido Ichigo — formed the nonprofit organization Kansai Space Initiative in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, in March along with researchers from Kyoto University, Kansai University, and others. The group hammered out a unique project called "KaSpI-1" to develop a satellite with an electronic bulletin board about the size of a 14-inch TV screen and a camera. Under the plan, the satellite will photograph the bulletin board, which will display various messages and illustrations, such as wedding congratulations, with the Earth in the background. The photos will be sent back to Earth to be used as gifts and for other purposes. The group aims to launch the new satellite in fiscal 2013.

Osaka Prefecture University plans to develop Soramame, a satellite for observing radiation, to measure the fluctuation in radiation that causes rockets and other devices in space to malfunction. The ultimate goal is to make it possible to forecast such conditions. Before the launch earlier this year, a total of eight satellites were developed by five universities--Chiba Institute of Technology, Tokyo University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Hokkaido Institute of Technology, and Nippon University — indicating the complete dominance in the field of universities in eastern Japan. The launch included satellites developed by Kagawa University in Takamatsu. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) set up a Kansai satellite office in Higashi-Osaka in 2003, creating an environment conducive to developing satellites for industry and academia in the Kansai region. The office also made it possible to assemble precision parts in the area and to conduct heat tests.