High Performance Sport Center Joins Space Strategic Fund Project

The High Performance Sport Center (HPSC), established by the Japan Sport Council (JSC), an Independent Administrative Agency, is pleased to announce its participation in the government-led Space Strategic Fund project.

A technology development task (Principal Investigator: Professor Koji Fujita, Tokyo Institute of Science) in which HPSC participates as a collaborating institution has been selected for 'SX-CRANE: Space Transfer and New Industry Seed Creation Hub', one of the research and development themes of the Space Strategic Fund. A contract has been signed between Tokyo Institute of Science and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Space Transfer and New Industry Seed Creation Hub 'SX-CRANE'

'Development Hub for Living Spaces Integrated with Medical Care in Space'

Principal Investigator: Professor Koji Fujita (Medical Design Office, Institute of Medical Innovation, Tokyo Institute of Science)

Contract Amount: 2.2 billion yen (up to 8 years)

*The amount is the maximum support limit and may change due to future stage-gate evaluations. The contract period is from the date of the grant decision to the last day of the fiscal year in which the first stage-gate evaluation is completed.

This technology development task aims to build an autonomous health management system in space based on the novel concept of 'integrating medical care and living spaces'.

In this context, leveraging the knowledge that HPSC has cultivated in the field of high-performance sports, primarily at the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences (JISS), research will be conducted to establish compact and efficient training methods that can prevent or mitigate health issues such as muscle atrophy, decreased bone density, reduced aerobic capacity, and metabolic disease risks under gravitational constraints like those inside spacecraft or on lunar/Mars bases. Furthermore, the project aims to scientifically evaluate the work efficiency and safety of astronauts in microgravity and low-gravity environments, and to establish optimal movement patterns that maximize work output while minimizing energy costs.

This will contribute to establishing methods for maintaining physical function before, during, and after space travel, and to building an autonomous health management system in space. The findings from this research are expected not only to be fed back into the field of high-performance sports but also to be applied and transferred to areas such as elderly care, thereby spreading the outcomes of this research to the field of life performance.

HPSC Research Personnel

Establishment of training methods in zero/low gravity environments

: Ryosuke Ando (Researcher, Department of Sports Science Research, Japan Institute of Sports Sciences)

https://hpsc-network.jpnsport.go.jp/plugin/rmaps/details/6/44/Rando923

Efficiency and advancement of work capability in micro/low gravity environments

: Daichi Yamashita (Deputy Senior Researcher, Department of Sports Science Research, Japan Institute of Sports Sciences)

https://hpsc-network.jpnsport.go.jp/plugin/rmaps/details/6/44/daichiyamashita