Chapter 1 Introduction - Aerospace Plane Technology: Research and Development Efforts in

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Aerospace Plane Technology:
Research and Development Efforts in Japan and Australia
GAO/NSIAD-92-5 October 1991

GAO/NSIAD-92-5 -- page 10

Chapter 1
Introduction

U.S. aeronautical leadership and preeminence are being challenged by Japan's development of a technological basis for future aerospace vehicles. Currently, U.S. aeronautical leadership and preeminence in hypersonics[1] are based on the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) Program. However, NASP supporters in the Congress are concerned that without a major and sustained initiative in hypersonics, the U.S. lead in aeronautics will be challenged by other countries.

Japan is developing the technologies and conducting feasibility studies for various concepts of operational aerospace vehicles. Australia is developing competence in selected subsystems for future aerospace vehicles, and its facilities are being used to test various U.S. and European aerospace vehicle concepts and components. Australia also conducted feasibility studies for an international spaceport on its Cape York Peninsula that would accommodate future aerospace planes. Australia's investment in aerospace vehicle research is discussed in chapter 8.

U.S. Aeronautical Preeminence in Hypersonics

U.S. aeronautical preeminence in hypersonics is currently based on the NASP Program--a more than $5 billion joint Department of Defense/National Aeronautics and Space Administration technology development and demonstration program to provide the technological basis for future hypersonic flight vehicles. The program plans to build and test a manned experimental flight vehicle, the X-30, to validate critical or enabling technologies by demonstrating sustained hypersonic cruise[2] and single-stage-to-orbit space launch capabilities. The X-30 is being designed to take off horizontally from a conventional runway, reach hypersonic speeds of up to Mach 25 (25 times the speed of sound, which is orbital velocity), attain low earth orbit, and return to land on a conventional runway. The NASP Program is expected to develop and demonstrate the technology for future NASP-derived vehicles that will have technical, cost, and operational advantages over existing military and commercial aircraft and space launch systems.

1. Technical terms are defined in the glossary.

2. The X-30 is being designed as an accelerator vehicle with the primary goal of achieving single-stage to-orbit capability. Hypersonic cruise capability is now viewed by NASP Program officials as a fallout from the single-stage-to-orbit capability. Specific cruise speed and maneuvering capability while landing are no longer requirements for the X-30. The diminished emphasis on hypersonic cruise is due to both technical and financial considerations. Also, a vehicle designed for hypersonic cruise would look considerably different from a vehicle designed primarily as an accelerator, single-stage-to-orbit space launch vehicle.

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The X-30 will be an experimental flight vehicle. It will not be a prototype or operational vehicle. It has no operational mission or requirements. Also, the X-30 will not be a full-scale version of future operational aerospace vehicles. Potential users of a future aerospace plane probably will not develop specific missions or identify firm operational requirements until the X-30's capabilities have been demonstrated.[3]

Many NASP supporters in the Congress are concerned that terminating or delaying the NASP Program will jeopardize the U.S. lead in hypersonics. Having lost U.S. leadership to Japan in other industries, such as automobiles and electronics, some view Japan's space goals as a potential threat to U.S. leadership and preeminence in aeronautics. Others believe that a slower NASP technology maturation phase will not adversely affect U.S. leadership. Still others believe that without a major and sustained initiative in hypersonics, U.S. aeronautical leadership and preeminence will be challenged by other countries' development of technologies for operational aerospace vehicles. A key factor in the National Space Council's July 1989 recommendation to continue the NASP Program, but at a slower pace than the original schedule, is the desire to maintain the U.S. lead in aerospace technologies into the 21st century.

Principal Japanese Aerospace Vehicle Concepts or Systems

The National Space Development Agency of Japan, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, and National Aerospace Laboratory are independently conducting research and development of technologies for separate, but complementary aerospace vehicle concepts or systems. The principal concepts include the National Space Development Agency of Japan's H-II Orbiting Plane (HOPE), the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science's Highly Maneuverable Experimental Space (HIMES) vehicle, and the National Aerospace Laboratory's single-stage-to-orbit aerospace plane. These concepts are briefly described below and are discussed in more detail in chapter 3. The National Space Development Agency of Japan's HOPE spaceplane is being studied as an operational, unmanned, reusable, shuttle-like reentry winged vehicle. Expected to be launched vertically by the H-II

3. For a detailed and technical description of the NASP Program, including U.S. government and industry investment in the program, see our report, National Aero-Space Plane: A Technology Development and Demonstration Program to Build the X-30 (GAO/NSIAD-88-122, Apr. 27, 1988).

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rocket booster, the spaceplane would return to earth and land horizontally on a runway. Although not an air-breathing aerospace plane, HOPE would serve as a technology demonstrator, have an interim operational capability, and be an intermediate step in developing a future Japanese air-breathing aerospace plane.

The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science's HIMES vehicle would be an unmanned, reusable, single-stage ballistic flight test vehicle. HIMES is being designed as a boost-glide vehicle to be launched vertically using rocket propulsion or by a rocket-powered wheeled-trolley or sled and land horizontally. The aerospace plane would serve as a test bed for hypersonic flight and air-breathing engines as well as expand the capabilities of sounding rockets in the upper atmosphere. HIMES also would be an intermediate step in developing a future air-breathing aerospace plane.

The National Aerospace Laboratory's single-stage-to-orbit aerospace plane would take off horizontally from conventional airports, use air-breathing or reusable rocket engines to leave the atmosphere, travel to space stations or other orbital platforms, and return to land horizontally on a runway.

These three Japanese spaceplane[4] concept or system studies are coordinated in a step-by-step approach to develop a future aerospace plane. However, Japan has not officially decided to build a future aerospace plane.

Indicators of Aerospace Vehicle Technological Development and Progress

The indicators we used to measure foreign countries' interest, commitment, and capability to develop and build an air-breathing aerospace vehicle and the current state of aerospace vehicle technological development and progress were selected based on the interests of representatives of the former Subcommittee on Transportation, Aviation, and Development and Materials (now part of the Subcommittee on Technology and Competitiveness), House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The indicators were also based on discussions with U.S. government and

4. Japanese government officials and industry representatives use the terms spaceplane and aerospace plane interchangeably. References to a spaceplane in Japanese documents encompass an aerospace plane as well. In this report we refer to the HOPE shuttle-like reentry winged vehicle as a spaceplane, since HOPE would be vertically launched by a rocket booster. We refer to the HIMES boost-glide vehicle and single- and two-stage-to-orbit space launch vehicles as aerospace planes since they would use air-breathing engine cycles in their propulsion systems.

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aerospace industry program managers, scientists, and engineers. These indicators are

foreign governments' space policies and aerospace goals and objectives, if any, for developing, or participating in the development of, air-breathing aerospace vehicles;
current and future aerospace vehicle program objectives, design goals, schedules, and costs;
the current status and rate of progress in the development of enabling technologies;
investment by foreign governments, industries, and universities in aerospace vehicle research and technological development efforts in terms of funding and the number and type of people working on these efforts;
test facilities and their capabilities; and
international cooperation.

Enabling Technologies

Enabling technologies are critical to the successful development and demonstration of future hypersonic flight vehicles. These include an air-breathing propulsion system using, for example, a turboramjet or supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet); advanced materials that are high-strength, lightweight, able to withstand high temperatures, and fully reusable; a fully integrated engine and airframe; and computational fluid dynamics and supercomputers for aerodynamic, structural, and propulsion system design.

Failure to successfully develop and demonstrate any of the enabling technologies could adversely affect Japanese (and other countries') aerospace vehicle programs. Also, the enabling technologies must be fully integrated, since the design of one component can affect the performance of another component. Enabling technologies are discussed in more detail in chapter 4.

Organizational Roles and Responsibilities

The roles and responsibilities of the principal Japanese government organizations and companies involved in aerospace vehicle research and technological development are discussed below.

Space Activities

Space activities in Japan are initiated by the Office of the Prime Minister. The Space Activities Commission, an advisory body to the Commission Japanese Prime Minister, establishes Japanese space policy and guide lines for carrying out Japan's space development. The Commission sets

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long-term policies on space development activities in Japan and works to unify space activities of various government agencies and to actively promote these activities. In 1987 the Commission's Committee on Long-Term Policy issued a study on the Fundamental Guidelines of Space Policy that recommends how to proceed with Japan's space activities into the 21st century. In 1989 the Commission reviewed and updated the study to reflect changes in Japanese space development state of the art and new international research and development efforts. The Commission determines the schedule of space development in Japan and will decide which spaceplane concept to pursue.

According to officials at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, the Commission's space planning objectives are considered so important to Japan's future that they are one of the few technological areas specifically coordinated within the Office of the Prime Minister. The Commission facilitates cooperation and collaboration among Japan's government and quasi-government space agencies (e.g., the National Space Development Agency of Japan, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, and National Aerospace Laboratory).

Science and Technology Agency

The Science and Technology Agency plans and promotes fundamental Japanese space policy, coordinates space activities between government agencies, and conducts research and development activities through the National Aerospace Laboratory. As the administrative arm for the Space Activities Commission, the Agency also acts as a liaison and conducts negotiations among various government agencies. In 1986 the Agency established a committee to coordinate spaceplane development activities.

National Space Development Agency of Japan

The National Space Development Agency of Japan is Japan's primary space agency. It was established to promote space activities and contribute to fostering space development and utilization. A government corporation, the Agency is supervised by the Science and Technology Agency together with the Japanese Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Headquartered in Tokyo, the Agency operates aerospace test facilities throughout Japan.

The Agency is responsible for developing, managing, and implementing major Japanese space programs, including the $2 billion Japanese

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Experimental Module,[5] H-II launch vehicle, and remote sensing satellites. The Agency is also responsible for Japan's satellite launch, tracking, and control centers. The Agency is conducting research on satellite and launch vehicle technologies and the launch and tracking of satellites. The Agency implements space programs in cooperation with other related organizations. As Japan's primary space research and development organization, the Agency's purpose is not to implement commercial space programs.

The Agency operates orbital launch facilities at Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in the extreme southwest corner of Japan. The Tsukuba Tracking and Control Center in Tsukuba serves as the primary satellite command facility. Associated tracking and data acquisition stations are located at Katsuura, Okinawa, and Masuda at the Tanegashima Space Center. Facilities at the Ogasawara Downrange Station on Chichijima Island in the Bonin Island Chain, the Okinawa Downrange Station, and the Christmas Downrange Station on Kiritimati Island[6] in Kiribati in the Line Islands provide downrange tracking of satellite launches. The Agency's Earth Observation Center is located in Saitama near Tokyo. The Agency's Kakuda Propulsion Center in Kakuda near Sendai is responsible for testing high-performance propulsion systems. The Agency's major technical facility is located at the Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba Science City north of Tokyo.

Institute of Space and Astronautical Science

The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science is one of the National Inter-University Research Institutes funded and administered by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture. The Institute is the central organization in Japan for scientific space research and is responsible for research and development of scientific satellites and related launch vehicles. The Institute is headquartered along with the Space Utilization Research Center at its Sagamihara campus near Tokyo and consists of several research centers at major Japanese universities.[7]

In 1966 the Japanese government determined that, in principle, space development would be the exclusive preserve of the National Space

5. The Japanese Experimental Module is being designed as a pressurized laboratory to conduct microgravity experiments in materials and life sciences. The module would join three similar modules (two American and one European) in becoming a permanent part of the planned U.S. space station.

6. In October 1990 Christmas Island was renamed Kiritimati Island.

7. The Institute's academic character stems from its establishment in 1981 by a reorganization of the Institute of space and Aeronautical science at the University of Tokyo.

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Development Agency of Japan, but as a special exception, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science could continue with its development of space science and technology in an academic environment. The Institute is restricted to (1) scientific research missions, (2) small research rockets,[8] and (3) launches from the Kagoshima Space Center at Uchinoura on the southern tip of Kyushu Island. Even with these restrictions, the Institute has accumulated an innovative technological base. For example, the Institute launched two spacecraft in 1985 to probe Halley's Comet. In January 1990 the Institute launched a lunar probe, making Japan only the third country (after the Soviet Union and the United States) to place a spacecraft in orbit around the moon.

In contrast to the Space Development Agency, the Institute concentrates solely on space science applications. The separate missions of the two organizations fulfill Japan's space development policy of different strategies for science and technology. The goal of the Institute is to develop space science, while the goal of the Space Development Agency is to develop space technology. Nonetheless, cooperation exists between the two agencies. For example, the Space Development Agency's H-II solid fuel boosters are based on technology developed by the Institute for its rockets. The Institute relies on the Space Development Agency's ground tracking stations to collect data during launch of its satellites. However, the Executive Director of the Space Development Agency indicated there is very little collaboration in planning projects. He suggested rivalry between the two agencies could intensify if the Ministry of Finance, which determines whether projects like spaceplane development are funded, questions the efficiency of funding two agencies to conduct similar work.

In addition to its Sagamihara research center, the Institute's principal facilities are the Kagoshima Space Center in Uchinoura, a launch facility about 50 miles north of the Tanegashima Space Center, the Noshiro Testing Center in Noshiro City in northwestern Japan, Sanriku Balloon Center in Sanriku in northeast Japan, Usuda Deep Space Center in Usuda in central Japan, and Space Data Analysis Center and Space Utilization Research Center at Sagamihara near Tokyo.

The Institute's Kagoshima Space Center in Uchinuora is primarily a sounding rocket launch site. It averages one satellite launch every 1 to 2 years. In comparison, the Space Development Agency's

8. Originally the diameter of the Institute's rockets could not exceed 1.4 meters. This restriction was lifted by the Space Activities Commission in 1989.

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Tanegashima Space Center is more active than the Institute's Kagoshima Space Center, since it launches more meteorological, communications, and remote sensing satellites. Launches from both sites, however, are restricted to launch seasons from January to February and August to September because of range safety procedures and concerns by the influential fishing lobby. Japanese fishermen are concerned about the loss of revenue during launches. However, the fishermen are apparently compensated for launches conducted outside of the launch seasons.

National Aerospace Laboratory

The National Aerospace Laboratory was established as a subsidiary organization of the Office of the Prime Minister to expedite the development of aeronautical technology in Japan. After the Science and Technology Agency was created, the Laboratory was placed under its administration. The Laboratory is the Science and Technology Agency's principal aviation and space technology research organization. It maintains close liaison with the Space Development Agency, with which it jointly conducts various experiments. The Laboratory offers its research data to other organizations and conducts basic as well as advanced studies in aeronautical and space technology.

Headquartered in the Chofu district of Tokyo, the Laboratory has test facilities at its Chofu Airfield Branch and Kakuda Branch in Kakuda near Sendai. Japan's large-scale test facilities (such as wind tunnels, jet engine test cells, rocket engine high-altitude test stands, and supercomputer complexes) are located at the Laboratory's three sites.

The Space Activities Commission's space development policy directs the Laboratory's research on advanced space technology. The Laboratory is one of several laboratories in Japan that promote fundamental aerospace technologies. In aeronautics, its goals are to establish a technology base for future vehicle development. As of March 1991, about 20 per cent of the Laboratory's 330 researchers were involved in work on future aerospace plane technology. The Laboratory is pursuing research on innovative component technologies under a program of Research and Development for Innovative Aerospace Transport Systems. This research program focuses on aerodynamics, composite materials, flight control, propulsion, numerical stimulation, and life support technology.

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The Laboratory's research activities for hypersonic flight began in 1965 with construction of a hypersonic wind tunnel at Chofu. Research activities for an advanced aerospace plane began in 1987, and overall vehicle definition work began in 1988. Flight control and numerical simulation activities were initiated in 1989 and life support technologies in 1990. Officials at the Laboratory stated that the Laboratory plans to evaluate all research activities in 1991 and 1992 to assess technology maturation. However, as of March 1991, this plan had not yet been approved.

National Aerospace Laboratory officials acknowledge Japan has no hypersonic flight experience. Moreover, flight testing to further hypersonic technology is not well understood. Also, a substantial technology gap exists between Japan's state of the art and the required level of technology to develop an aerospace plane.

To address these conditions, the National Aerospace Laboratory developed objectives to (1) identify feasible aerospace vehicle configurations, (2) assess the status of Japan's technology, (3) identify technology needs, (4) define existing capabilities to satisfy these needs, (5) examine the role that flight testing can fulfill in advancing the technology, and (6) outline the technology advancement and related facilities construction programs.

A Liaison Group for Spaceplane Research and Development has been tentatively established between the National Space Development Agency of Japan, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, National Aerospace Laboratory, industry, and universities to coordinate development of a future Japanese spaceplane.

Ministry of International Trade and Industry

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry has several small laboratories that conduct space-related work, but its primary role is the promotion of future commercial space applications. The Ministry has identified space development as a potentially strategic technology for the 21st century and one that could benefit from Japan's expertise in electronics and engineering. The Ministry has been involved in the development of various technologies that relate to the industrial utilization of space since the establishment of its Space Industry Division. The Ministry promotes space activities in Japan through financial strategies, such as low interest loans and tax deductions. Formations of cooperative ventures among companies to carry out specific projects are also used as inducements.

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Japanese industry is organized into several space-related private organizations to promote the development of space technology. Within the Keidanren, or Federation of Economic Organizations, the Space Activities Promotion Council has a membership of 96 companies. The Council acts as a coordinating committee for the membership and is a liaison between its membership and the Japanese government. The Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies, with 147 members, is another group that promotes a coordinated effort among aerospace industries to further space technology development. In 1988 the Society recommended the development of supersonic and hypersonic transports. The Japan Space Utilization Promotion Center, as well as numerous smaller consortia and organizations of companies, promote various commercial space applications. Japanese aerospace officials advocate advancing Japan's hypersonic technology so that Japan can join the United States or other countries in building such a vehicle.

Japan's principal aerospace companies include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, and Fuji Heavy Industries. Also, large Japanese construction companies, such as Shimizu, Taisei, and Ohbayashi, are working on spaceplane-related transportation concept plans.

Mitsubishi, the lead contractor for the Space Development Agency's H-II launch vehicle, is developing the H-II's LE-7 engine. Mitsubishi is conducting many of the H-II's tests at its Tashiro Test Center in Akita. Nissan Motor Company, one of Japan's leading automobile manufacturers, is developing the H-II's solid fuel boosters.

Japanese industry is working with the Space Development Agency and National Aerospace Laboratory on computational fluid dynamics software, advanced materials, vehicle aerodynamics, and system integration for the HOPE program. Fuji's primary expertise is advanced materials development. Kawasaki is conducting research on integrating structures. Mitsubishi is conducting research on integrating propulsion, structures, aerodynamics, and the total system. However, Science and Technology Agency and Space Development Agency officials stressed that the role of each company for the development of HOPE has not been determined or based on each company's primary expertise.

Aerospace plane research is also being conducted at Japanese universities. The University of Tokyo had been involved in space development for 14 years prior to the establishment of the Space Development Agency in 1969. Other national universities involved in aerospace

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research include the University of Kyushu, University of Kyoto, University of Nagoya, Tohoku University, University of Hokkaido, and the University of Osaka.

All seven national universities serve as formal and informal advisers to government and industry on aerospace plane development. University research is funded by both public and private organizations. Joint studies on aerospace plane technologies are also conducted between the National Aerospace Laboratory and the University of Tokyo. Cooperative research agreements permit universities to use the Laboratory's facilities.

Objectives, Scope and Methodology

The former Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology asked us to identify indicators (discussed on p. 12) to measure foreign countries' current state of aerospace vehicle technological development and progress. The former Chairman also asked us to collect data and information on foreign government and industry investment in aerospace vehicle research and technological development efforts, focusing on those critical or enabling technologies that could allow foreign countries to develop and build future aerospace vehicles. The former Subcommittee on Transportation, Aviation, and Materials (now part of the Subcommittee on Technology and Competitiveness), which has authorization and oversight responsibility for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's aeronautical research and technology programs, including the NASP Program, is particularly concerned about foreign competition to the NASP Program and future Nasp-derived operational aerospace planes. NASP supporters in the Congress are concerned that, without a major and sustained initiative in hypersonics, the U.S. lead in aeronautics will be challenged by other countries.

This report is the third in a planned series of reports on aerospace investment in foreign countries. Our first report was in response to the Committee's request that we provide it with technical data and information on foreign aerospace test facilities to assess foreign countries' research, development, and testing capabilities for future aerospace vehicles.[9] The Committee is particularly interested in the potential use of key foreign test facilities by the NASP Program.

9. For technical data and information on principal European, Japanese, and Australian aerospace test facilities (wind tunnels and air-breathing propulsion test cells) and their capabilities, see our report, Aerospace Technology: Technical Data and Information on Foreign Test Facilities (GAO/NSIAD 90-71 FS, June 22, 1990).

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Our second report was in response to the Committee's request that we provide it with information on investment in European aerospace vehicle research and technological development efforts.[10] This report focuses on efforts in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, since they are developing technologies and conducting feasibility studies for various concepts of operational aerospace planes. Also, efforts in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy are included because these countries support technology development efforts through national research and the use of their test facilities. In addition, this report discusses the efforts of the European Space Agency because it promotes cooperation in space research and technology among its 13 member countries. A subsequent report will address aerospace investment in the Soviet Union.

The scope of our review was primarily limited to future air-breathing aerospace vehicles, since they could provide competition to NASP or future NASP-derived operational vehicles. Our review included Japan, since Japan is developing the technological basis for various concepts of future aerospace vehicles. In addition, we included facilities (such as wind tunnels) in Australia. Although Australia does not have a national program to develop and build an air-breathing aerospace vehicle, it supports the technology development and its test facilities are being used to conduct research and development of such vehicles by other countries and the European Space Agency.

We collected technical data and information on test facilities, their capabilities, and the number of people working on aerospace vehicle research and development in those countries included in our review. Facilities include (1) wind tunnels and shock tunnels, (2) air-breathing propulsion test cells (engine test facilities for ramjets and scramjets), (3) aerothermal test facilities, (4) aeroballistic and impact ranges, (5) advanced materials research, development, production, and fabrication laboratories, and (6) aerodynamic computation facilities (supercomputers). We also collected cost information on test facilities, including construction, replacement, annual operating, and user cost, where available.

Our methodology involved reviewing studies and pertinent documents and interviewing appropriate officials in Washington, D.C., at the Departments of Defense, the Air Force, State, and Commerce; the

10. For information on aerospace investment in Europe, see our report, Aerospace Plane Technology: Research and Development Efforts in Europe (GAO/NSIAD-91-194, July 25, 1991).

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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; NASP Interagency Office;[11] National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Central Intelligence Agency; and the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President. We also met in Washington, D.C., with officials of Gellman Research Associates, Inc., of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, to discuss their methodology for analyzing government support for civil aeronautical research and technology expenditures in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, and Japan; and with officials of the Washington Office of the National Space Development Agency of Japan.

We also visited the NASP Joint Program Office, the Foreign Technology Division of the Air Force Systems Command, and Air Force Wright Aeronautical Laboratories, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio; Arnold Engineering Development Center and the Foreign Technology Division of the Air Force Systems Command, Arnold Air Force Base, Tullahoma, Tennessee; and Lovelace Scientific Resources, Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico, to discuss its approach and methodology for comparing world civil space programs.

We met with Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and contractor officials, scientists, and engineers to help us develop our approach and methodology, determine key enabling technologies, and identify specific data requirements needed to measure the status of a country's technological maturation and capability to develop and build a future air-breathing aerospace vehicle.

Our methodology also involved reviewing studies and pertinent documents; interviewing appropriate U.S. Embassy, international organization, and foreign government, industry, and university officials; and visiting key test facilities in Japan and Australia. The organizations and locations where we conducted our review work in Japan and Australia are discussed below.

11. Three offices have responsibility for the NASP Program. The NASP Interagency Office in Washington, D.C., coordinates the NASP Program among participating agencies and military services. It also provides oversight, furnishes policy guidance, and maintains support for the program within the U.S. government. The NASP Joint Program Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, is responsible for overall management and coordination of the NASP Program. It also implements the technical program and manages the contracts. The NASP National Program Office in Seal Beach, California, integrates the prime contractors into one program office under a single program director. It directs the contractor team's effort through a single contract with the U.S. government, provides program guidance, ensures adequate contractor team resources, reviews program progress, and resolves contractor team disputes.

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Japan

We conducted review work in Tokyo at the U.S. Embassy, Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Office, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Science and Technology Agency, Space Activities Commission of Japan, National Space Development Agency of Japan, Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and The Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences; in Chofu at the National Aerospace Laboratory; in Sagamihara at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science; in Tanegashima at the Space Development Agency's Tanegashima Space Center; in Tsukuba at the Agency's Tsukuba Space Center; in Uchinoura at the Institute's Kagoshima Space Center; in Utsunomiya at Fuji Heavy Industries; in Gifu at Kawasaki Heavy Industries; and in Nagoya and Komaki at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

We also visited the Japanese Experimental Module mock-up and space vehicle assembly building at the Space Development Agency's Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba; Takesaki Range small rocket launch site, Osaki Range Control Center, Mobile Service Tower for the H-I rocket booster, Static Firing Test Facility for the LE-7 engine, Yosinobu Range for the H-II rocket launcher, and the Masuda Tracking and Data Acquisition Center at the Space Development Agency's Tanegashima Space Center in Tanegashima; wind tunnels, materials laboratory, computational fluid dynamics facility, and computer center at the National Aero space Laboratory in Chofu; sounding rocket launch sites, Mobile Service Tower, balloon launch area for the HIMES vehicle, and data tracking and acquisition center at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science's Kagoshima Space Center in Uchinoura; wind tunnels under construction and three HIMES gliding flight test vehicles at the Institute in Sagamihara; wind tunnels, materials laboratories, computer centers, and engine test stands at Fuji Heavy Industries in Utsunomiya, Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Gifu, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagoya and Komaki.

In addition, we conducted a 1-day Workshop on Japanese Aerospace Vehicle Investment and Technologies at GAO in Washington, D.C., with representatives from the NASP Joint Program Office Fact Finding

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Group,[12] who also visited Japan to share technical data and information and exchange views based on the results of our visits to Japan.

Australia

We conducted review work in Canberra at the U.S. Embassy; Department of Physics and Theoretical Physics of The Australian National University; Office of Space Science and Applications of the Commonwealth Science and Industry Research Organization; Australian Space Office of the Department of Industry, Technology, and Commerce; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; in the Australian Capital Territory at the Tidbinbilla Space Tracking Station; in Brisbane at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Queensland; and in Adelaide at British Aerospace Australia. We also visited the T-1, T-2, and T-3 Shock Tunnels at The Australian National University and T-4 Shock Tunnel at the University of Queensland.

We provided a draft of this report to officials from foreign government and industry organizations in Japan and Australia and asked them to review, verify, and, if necessary, update the information. Their comments have been incorporated in the report where appropriate. We used annual average exchange rates to convert foreign currencies into U.S. dollars. We did not obtain official written agency comments on this report. How ever, we provided a draft of this report to officials from the Department of Defense and National Aeronautics and Space Administration and several U.S. experts in hypersonics for their review. We discussed the information presented in this report with these officials and experts and incorporated their technical and editorial comments where appropriate. We conducted our review between March 1988 and October 1990 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

12. Members of the Fact Finding Group consisted of representatives from the NASP Joint Program Office, Office of Science and Technology Policy, McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and Rockwell International Corporation. The group visited Japan in October 1988 to (1) exchange information about the status of and plans for spaceplane development in Japan and the United States, (2) understand the problems and technical barriers to spaceplane development, and (3) explore specific technical areas for possible use on NASP or for possible collaborative development.

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Chapter 1Introduction