S-Booster 2018 report
Outline
S-Booster 2018 is a contest for new, space-based business ideas. The broad range of entries includes start-ups, students, individuals, and people in other industries. Support is given to commercialize these ideas, including mentorship to polish the ideas, with the goal of receiving funding from investors, etc.
Final Presentation report
The Final Presentation was held on November 19 for 12 finalists,
eight in the Business Plan Category and four in the Future Concept
Category.
After a heated discussion, one Grand Prize, one Future Concept
Prize, five Sponsor Prizes, and one Special Judges' Prize were
awarded to the winners.
Outline of event
Schedule: 2:00 – 5:45 p.m., Monday, November 19, 2018
Location: Shibuya Stream Hall
Program
| Time | Content |
|---|---|
| 2:00 p.m. | Opening |
| 2:05 – 2:20 p.m. | Introduction of prizes, finalists, and judging process |
| 2:20 – 2:28 p.m. | Business Plan Category #1: Turning Airplanes Into Antenna: Satellite Data Transmission Service That Can be Used Above the Ocean (Video) |
| Team name: AO-Links / Representative: Tetsuya Tsugami | |
| Other than required data that is provided to customer users, observation data from Earth observation satellites (particularly small satellites) is overwritten and discarded without being used. We will build a service for data backup and usage by utilizing passenger aircraft to collect this data. | |
| 2:28 – 2:36 p.m. | Business Plan Category #2: Beautiful Skin Satellite Forecast (Video) |
| Team name: YOT (by POLA) / Representative: Tadashi Okubo | |
| We will integrate satellite data with POLA's over 17.5 million pieces of skin data to create a data platform specialized in beauty and health. Moreover, among the satellite data, we will focus on near-infrared light (which affects skin), providing information about prevention and care in our Beautiful Skin Satellite Forecast (BtoC and BtoB). Connecting space technologies with customers that actively invest in their beauty and health will help develop society as a whole. | |
| 2:36 – 2:44 p.m. | Business Plan Category #3: Discovering Potential Famous Production Sites From Space (Video*) |
| Team name: Ten Chi Jin / Representative: Ryo Shigeta | |
| In recent years, cultivation technology progress has enabled the growing of more productive crops in addition to traditional ones. However, people tend to overlook this potential. We will analyze all satellite data comprehensively, such as 3D terrain maps, fine-granular precipitation, sunlight, and so forth to discover optimum crops for specific times and places and reflect them in agricultural strategies. | |
| 2:44 – 2:52 p.m. | Business Plan Category #4: Tsunami Early Warning Service With Geostationary Positioning Satellites (Video) |
| Team name/representative: Toshiyasu Nagao | |
|
By using "tsunamigenic ionospheric holes" we
discovered through GPS data, we found that the initial tsunami
height can be accurately predicted from space after a large
earthquake. Furthermore, using geostationary positioning satellites, the potential Nankai megathrust earthquake hypocentral region can be constantly monitored, and thus tsunami prediction is possible without being disturbed by total electron content (TEC) from GPS satellites. |
|
| 2:52 – 3:00 p.m. | Business Plan Category #5: Skin and Microbe Co-existence for Improving QOL via Space (Video) |
| Team name: Fun-G / Representative: Shoko Sassa | |
| Focusing on the unique space environment for human skin, we propose a business for improving the quality of life (QOL) of humans in space, based on the concept of co-existence with microbes. Microbial manipulation is the key technology to create a comfortable human skin environment in space, which should contribute to rapidly accelerating the public use of space travel and stays. | |
| 3:00 – 3:08 p.m. | Business Plan Category #6: Big Data Business by Turning Passenger Aircraft into Radar Satellites (Video) |
| Team name: AO-Links / Representative: Yosuke Miyashita | |
| By equipping passenger aircraft with Synthetic Aperture Rader (SAR), we propose to construct an expanded data analysis system with existing satellite data for Earth observation. This system will constantly collect a large amount of high-frequency and high-resolution data that was not obtainable with satellites alone. This should contribute to disaster relief, and create a new opportunity for satellite utilization in the Big Data market. | |
| 3:08 – 3:16 p.m. | Business Plan Category #7: A Microbe Collector in the Stratosphere (Video) |
| Team name: Team Space Drifter / Representative: Ken Kondo | |
|
It is said that there are unique microbes existing in the
stratosphere. We are planning to use balloons for the low-cost
collection of these microbes. The origins and characteristics
of these collected microbes will be analyzed by the latest
genome analysis. Learning about the microbes surviving in quite high ultraviolet ray zones should lead us to discover new substances and mechanisms that will contribute to producing new materials or medical treatments. |
|
| 3:16 – 3:24 p.m. | Business Plan Category #8: Offshore Rocket Launch (Video*) |
| Team name: Mori Takuma/Yamada Ryutaro / Representative: Takuma Mori | |
|
The small satellite launch market will grow to 13 trillion yen
by 2030, but there is a supply shortage of six trillion yen.
Although rapid progress is underway for small-sized rocket
development, there are not enough launch facilities to keep
up. Meanwhile, 40% of offshore drilling rigs are on standby,
construction fees have fallen to half of what they were at
their peak, and the second-hand price of rigs has dropped to
several hundred million yen. This operation of an offshore rocket launch facility by a private entity will be the world's first, and the current excessive rig supply for rocket launching is the best chance. |
|
| 3:24 – 3:30 p.m. | Future Concept Category #1: Telepresence Robot for Lunar Base Development from Earth (Video) |
| Team name: GITAI / Representative: Sho Nakanose | |
| We will create a next-generation telepresence robot that can do lunar base development tasks from the Earth. The telepresence robot we are developing can communicate between the Earth and Moon using limited network infrastructure. This will make it possible to remotely conduct lunar base development tasks from the Earth's surface, drastically cutting lunar base development costs and also resolving safety issues. | |
| 3:30 – 3:36 p.m. | Future Concept Category #2: CT Scanning Earth's Interior (Video*) |
| Team name/representative: Daisuke Ode | |
| Data on the Earth's interior has limitless value, including for underground resource exploration and accident prevention to save human lives. This idea uses cosmic rays, a space resource that falls from space to Earth, to perform "CT scans" on the Earth, just like CT scanning human bodies. The aim is to clarify the structure inside of the Earth and achieve global development for more affluent, safe, and secure societies. | |
| 3:36 – 3:42 p.m. | Future Concept Category #3: Earthquake Prediction Using CubeSats and a Global Ground Station Network (Video) |
| Team name/representative: Masashi Kamogawa | |
| Installing sensors either on small satellites as a piggyback mission or on extremely low-priced CubeSats specialized in ionospheric disturbances preceding earthquakes, which have proven statistical significance, will realize quasi-real-time earthquake prediction. In the end, a group of around 30 satellites will constantly monitor the entire Earth to create a service for providing earthquake prediction information to countries that experience frequent earthquakes and the insurance industry. | |
| 3:42 – 3:48 p.m. | Future Concept Category #4: Aurora for ALL (Video) |
| Team name/representative: Saki Tanaka | |
|
Many people believe that the northern lights cannot be
predicted, that we cannot know when they are visible, and that
one has to patiently wait outside until they occur. However,
these are all misperceptions about auroral observation. The northern lights can be reliably predicted with satellites, and they release beautiful light on a 30-day cycle. I will show you how to predict the northern lights cycle to see them on the right day at the right place. |
|
| 3:48 – 4:00 p.m. | Break |
| 4:00 – 4:50 p.m. |
Special talk show: "Giving Concrete Shape to Space
Business Ideas"
Participants:
Accelerator guest:
Moderator: |
| 4:50 – 5:05 p.m. | Break, Award Ceremony preparations |
| 5:05 – 5:43 p.m. |
Announcement of judging results, Award Ceremony 1. Commentary by the Chief Special Judge 2. Sponsor Prizes (1 each) 3. Special Judges' Prize (1) 4. Future Concept Prize (1) 5. Grand Prize (1) |
| 5:43 – 5:45 p.m. |
General comments, closing remarks Takuya Hirai, Minister of State for Space Policy |
| 5:45 p.m. | End |
Click ":Video": to see the finalist's presentation. (English subtitle is available for video with *)
List of winners
The following prizes were awarded after a heated discussion.
| Name of prize | Idea/team name |
|---|---|
| Grand Prize |
Offshore Rocket Launch Mori Takuma/Yamada Ryutaro |
| Future Concept Prize |
CT Scanning Earth's Interior Daisuke Ode |
| Special Judges' Prize |
Discovering Potential Famous Production Sites From Space Ten Chi Jin |
| Sponsor Prizes |
ANA Holdings Prize Discovering Potential Famous Production Sites From Space Ten Chi Jin |
|
Obayashi Corporation Prize Offshore Rocket Launch Mori Takuma/Yamada Ryutaro |
|
|
SKY Perfect JSAT Prize Telepresence Robot for Lunar Base Development From Earth GITAI |
|
|
JAL Prize Discovering Potential Famous Production Sites From Space Ten Chi Jin |
|
|
POLA ORBIS HOLDINGS Prize A Microbe Collector in the Stratosphere Team Space Drifte |
Grand Prize
Offshore Rocket Launch (Business Plan Category)
Team name: Mori Takuma/Yamada Ryutaro
Lead mentor: Tomonari Yamazaki (Uchida & Samejima Law Firm)
Sub mentor: Hide Aoki (Global Brain Corporation)
| Outline of idea |
The small satellite launch market will grow to 13 trillion
yen by 2030, but there is a supply shortage of six
trillion yen. Although rapid progress is underway for
small-sized rocket development, there are not enough
launch facilities to keep up. Meanwhile, 40% of offshore
drilling rigs are on standby, construction fees have
fallen to half of what they were at their peak, and the
second-hand price of rigs has dropped to several hundred
million yen. This operation of an offshore rocket launch facility by a private entity will be the world's first, and the current excessive rig supply for rocket launching is the best chance. |
| Commentary |
The biggest significance of this idea is that it is
executable right now and great impacts will follow. In general, ideas in this kind of business contest would involve long lead- times for their commercialization, but this idea requires less than three years. Even more, it seems quite profitable. The only thing is to secure funding. Moreover, this perfect timing, when there are many surplus rigs, makes it a promising idea with great potential to put Japan on the front lines of global space business. In addition to the Grand Prize of 10 million yen, I hope that support for the prize-winning ideas and participating projects will ignite the Japanese space industry. (Chief Special Judge Takeshi Natsuno) |
| Comment from the winner | I am thrilled to win. Thanks to the support of many people, I see that results are immediately visible. I would like to ask government officials for regulatory support. I want to make Japan a major space development nation. |
Future Concept Prize
CT Scanning Earth's Interior (Future Concept Category)
Team name: Daisuke Ode
Lead mentor: Osamu Ogasawara (ABBALab Co., Ltd.)
| Outline of idea | Data on the Earth's interior has limitless value, including for underground resource exploration and accident prevention to save human lives. This idea uses cosmic rays, a space resource that falls from space to Earth, to perform "CT scans" on the Earth, just like CT scanning human bodies. The aim is to clarify the structure inside of the Earth and achieve global development for more affluent, safe, and secure societies. |
| Commentary |
It was a close contest among the four finalists, and there
were many ideas that I hope to see in real businesses as
soon as possible. Among them, we think this idea of using
muography for CT scanning the Earth will have extremely
large impacts on society. A major point is that this idea
reveals more about the Earth, which is one of the goals of
space development. I definitely hope the winner will work
hard to accomplish it. (Special Judge Naoko Yamazaki) |
Special Judges' Prize
Discovering Potential Famous Production Sites From Space (Business Plan Category)
Team name: Ten Chi Jin
Lead mentor: Noriaki Ozaki (TX Entrepreneur Partners)
| Outline of idea | In recent years, cultivation technology progress has enabled the growing of more productive crops in addition to traditional ones. However, people tend to overlook this potential. We will analyze all satellite data comprehensively, such as 3D terrain maps, fine-granular precipitation, sunlight, and so forth to discover optimum crops for specific times and places and reflect them in agricultural strategies. |
| Commentary |
This exceedingly wonderful idea won three prizes
(including two Sponsor Prizes), but we chose it based on
our true feelings, regardless of its number of prizes. Going forward, I hope they will grow a great deal of high-value fruit, share it with the world, earn a lot of money, and make many contributions to Japan. (Special Judge Gen Isayama) |
Sponsor Prizes
ANA Holdings Prize
Discovering Potential Famous Production Sites From Space
(Business Plan Category)
Team name: Ten Chi Jin
Lead mentor: Noriaki Ozaki (TX Entrepreneur Partners)
Team name: Ten Chi Jin
Lead mentor: Noriaki Ozaki (TX Entrepreneur Partners)
| Outline of idea | In recent years, cultivation technology progress has enabled the growing of more productive crops in addition to traditional ones. However, people tend to overlook this potential. We will analyze all satellite data comprehensively, such as 3D terrain maps, fine-granular precipitation, sunlight, and so forth to discover optimum crops for specific times and places and reflect them in agricultural strategies. |
| Commentary | This idea will likely create optimal combinations of farmland and agricultural produce that have never existed before, and we felt a sense of appealing potential about the air freight that will likely result. |
Obayashi Corporation Prize
Offshore Rocket Launch (Business Plan Category)
Team name: Mori Takuma/Yamada Ryutaro
Lead mentor: Tomonari Yamazaki (Uchida & Samejima Law Firm)
Sub mentor: Hide Aoki (Global Brain Corporation)
Team name: Mori Takuma/Yamada Ryutaro
Lead mentor: Tomonari Yamazaki (Uchida & Samejima Law Firm)
Sub mentor: Hide Aoki (Global Brain Corporation)
| Outline of idea |
The small satellite launch market will grow to 13 trillion
yen by 2030, but there is a supply shortage of six
trillion yen. Although rapid progress is underway for
small-sized rocket development, there are not enough
launch facilities to keep up. Meanwhile, 40% of offshore
drilling rigs are on standby, construction fees have
fallen to half of what they were at their peak, and the
second-hand price of rigs has dropped to several hundred
million yen. This operation of an offshore rocket launch facility by a private entity will be the world's first, and the current excessive rig supply for rocket launching is the best chance. |
| Commentary | Obayashi Corporation is striving to build a space elevator, and the "Earth Port" will be an extremely important element of this. This idea, using rigs for rocket launches, teaches us a great deal, and we definitely hope to help commercialize it. |
SKY Perfect JSAT Prize
Telepresence Robot for Lunar Base Development From Earth
(Future Concept Category)
Team name: GITAI
Lead mentor: Deck Hashimoto (SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation)
Team name: GITAI
Lead mentor: Deck Hashimoto (SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation)
| Outline of idea | We will create a next-generation telepresence robot that can do lunar base development tasks from the Earth. The telepresence robot we are developing can communicate between the Earth and Moon using limited network infrastructure. This will make it possible to remotely conduct lunar base development tasks from the Earth's surface, drastically cutting lunar base development costs and also resolving safety issues. |
| Commentary | This idea has a very solid technical basis, and is extremely appealing to our company doing business in telecommunications. When people are active on the Moon, we are hoping to be in charge of communication between the Earth and Moon, so we definitely want to collaborate with this idea. |
JAL Prize
Discovering Potential Famous Production Sites From Space
(Business Plan Category)
Team name: Ten Chi Jin
Lead mentor: Noriaki Ozaki (TX Entrepreneur Partners)
Team name: Ten Chi Jin
Lead mentor: Noriaki Ozaki (TX Entrepreneur Partners)
| Outline of idea | In recent years, cultivation technology progress has enabled the growing of more productive crops in addition to traditional ones. However, people tend to overlook this potential. We will analyze all satellites data comprehensively such as 3D terrain maps, fine granular precipitation, sunlight and so forth to discover optimum crops for specific time and place to reflect them in agricultural strategies. |
| Commentary | We were extremely impressed by the novel nature of Ten Chi Jin's idea connecting space and agriculture. JAL established a company named "JAL Agriport" to operate farms for sightseeing purposes next to Narita Airport, and we hope to contribute in regional development. We look forward to implementing various initiatives together. |
POLA ORBIS HOLDINGS Prize
A Microbe Collector in the Stratosphere (Business Plan
Category)
Team name: Team Space Drifter
Lead mentor: Ai Nemoto (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology [JAMSTEC])
Sub mentor: Kenji Yoshida (Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation)
Team name: Team Space Drifter
Lead mentor: Ai Nemoto (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology [JAMSTEC])
Sub mentor: Kenji Yoshida (Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation)
| Outline of idea |
It is said that there are unique microbes existing in the
stratosphere. We are planning to use balloons for the
low-cost collection of these microbes. The origins and
characteristics of these collected microbes will be
analyzed by the latest genome analysis. Learning about the microbes surviving in quite high ultraviolet ray zones should lead us to discover new substances and mechanisms that will contribute to producing new materials or medical treatments. |
| Commentary |
There were two ideas by groups of POLA employees: one
about the influence of sunlight, and the other about the
influence of space microbes. We believe Team Space Drifter's idea will complement both resolutions. We selected this idea thinking that revealing the microbial ecosystem in the stratosphere will help us achieve our goals. |
Commentary from Chief Special Judge Takeshi Natsuno
There were almost 200 entries to S-Booster 2018, out of which
12 were chosen as finalists. Mentors were assigned to each
idea, and the teams spent a great deal of time polishing their
proposals. I am sure all who participated had a strong desire
to win, but unfortunately prizes do not go to everyone.
However, I want to start by stating that all ideas in this
Final Presentation are quite promising.
The space industry is now in a great "boost phase."
On the other hand, this means the level to which we boost the
market will decide the future of the Japanese space
industry.
The 12 ideas are all fascinating, and the judges struggled to
choose between them after watching the presentations on how to
commercialize these ideas.
Regardless of the results, I hope the finalists will
proactively get in touch with investors in the audience and
other people you met today to win their support, funds,
knowledge, courage, and even energy. I also hope the investors
will provide funding to promising ideas and receive returns.
In this way, I hope S-Booster will keep growing into the most
productive space community that brings project proposers and
their supporters together.
S-Booster 2018 Final Presentation video archive (Japanese only)
niconico Live archive (member registration required) (Japanese
only)
niconico Live (JAXA Aviation Front Lines)
S-Booster 2018 Final Presentation reports (Japanese only)
S-Booster 2018 Space Business Idea Contest Report Vol. 2: 2017 Winners, and Looking to 2018
Business Matching Platform
"S-Matching"
S-Matching enables smooth matching between space business
entrepreneurs, and investors willing to invest in or fund the
space industry.
The S-Booster 2018 finalists' business ideas can be viewed on
the website.
(Space investor member registration is required.)
https://s-matching.jp/ (Japanese only)
S-Booster 2018
Executive Committee
Cabinet Office
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)
ANA HOLDINGS INC.
OBAYASHI CORPORATION
SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation
Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.
POLA ORBIS HOLDINGS INC.
LAWSON, INC.
[Secretariat]
S-Booster 2018 Secretariat (inside Japan Space Forum)
s-booster2018(at)jsforum.or.jp (replace [at] with the @ symbol)
