How can humans live more safely in space?
Responding to medical and health-related challenges
To manage the health of astronauts during future human space exploration activities (on and around the Moon and Mars), JAXA is moving forward with research and development to acquire the necessary space medicine and health management technologies.
Challenges in future human space exploration activities
Compared to conventional health management operations that have taken place on the ISS, the technologies required for health management during future human space exploration activities are more advanced. These technological deficiencies have been identified as “technological gaps.” To fill in these gaps, JAXA aims to formulate research and development plans that clarify the issues to address. These plans will focus excellence and originality of Japan considering that future human space exploration will be executed based on international collaboration, as well as private-entity activities in low Earth orbit and ripple effects for medicine on earth.
Requests for information (RFI)
and requests for proposals (RFP)
As one of the first steps to the above research and development activities, these requests for information (RFIs) seek to learn about the potential for collaboration with businesses and/or research institutes in order to fill in the above technological gaps. There is no designated period for these requests, and opinions and information are welcome anytime.
These RFIs are part of the Open Innovation Hub project hosted by JAXA’s Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center, and can also be linked to the requests for proposals from those who wish to participate and work with the center.
Requests for proposals (RFPs) are made regularly. To assign tasks for each proposal based on the information collected through RFI, information submission deadlines for RFIs are set for each proposal. To learn more about these deadlines please see the Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center website.
List of RFP tasks and joint research projects
RFP tasks
- Study of the high definition portable Ultrasound imaging diagnostic system.
- Study of the high definition & radiation resistant portable Xray imaging diagnostic System.
- Study of the automatic risk assessment method for mental fatigue, physical fatigue and lack of sleep by self-monitoring of skin condition.
- Study of the prevention of vestibular dysfunction and functional improvement by percutaneous noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) for gravity re-adaptation.
- Study of the physical interaction systems using artificial muscles. (Such as rehabilitation support devices, strength training devices)
- Study of the health maintenance countermeasure using Synbiotics approach.
- Study of the optimum combination of space radiation measurement and dose calculation method.
- Study of the treatment for myelosuppression due to radiation exposure by drug medicine.
Joint research projects
- Study of the antibacterial agent sticking to several materials inside manned spacecraft.
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