Space Debris Book Launch brings Switzerland and Japan back in Orbit

While COVID-19 put international visits between academic and industry partners on hold, an event that brought the Japanese ERI community physically together, to reconnect with Swiss experts online, helped put discussions back on track, or into orbit, as might better suit the topic.

Switzerland and Japan have similarities in their approach in the field of outer space; one example is the focus on cleaning space debris. The evening showcased here featured Swiss and Japanese contributors to the book "Space Debris Peril: Pathways to Opportunities" in front of a small, but important group of local guests including the President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA, President of the Tokyo University of Science TUS (also acting as Science and Technology Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs) and Prof. Chiaki Mukai, a former astronaut and Vice President of TUS. Switzerland was represented not only by the book’s editors Dr. Matteo Madi (Sirin Orbital Systems AG) and Dr. Olga Sokolova (Sirin Orbital Systems /Paul Scherrer Institute PSI), but also Dr. Renato Krpoun, Head of the Swiss Space Office (SSO), who gave a video message for the opening.

After short presentations of excerpts of the book, stimulating discussions followed. The event reminded the Japanese experts of the friendly collaborations with their Swiss counterparts, as it was mentioned in an e-mail sent to the Swiss experts. Please stay tuned for more space related projects between Switzerland and Japan to be promoted from Tokyo!