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Mississippi Space Industry Launches Relationship with 'Japanese NASA'


October 20, 2008 - Yokohama, Japan
A delegation representing Mississippi’s space industry recently traveled to Tokyo, Japan to meet with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) following the delegation’s participation in the 2008 Japan International Aerospace Exhibition in Yokohama.

Craig Harvey, COO of NVision Solutions, Inc.; John Henry Jackson of the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) International Trade Office; and Mark Lanoue, CEO of Emerging Technologies LLC discussed Mississippi’s role in global space technology markets with JAXA officials. The Japan Office of MDA provided logistical support.

Harvey described the commercial interest in Mississippi as a prime environment for aerospace technology startups and established companies to do business. Harvey also presented the benefits of the NASA Technology Transfer Program using NVision’s history with the program over the last five years as a case study. Harvey focused on NVision’s HazNet Emergency Management Server as a product of NVision’s relationship with NASA.

Jackson briefed JAXA regarding Mississippi’s ongoing support of the commercialization of space technology as a tool for high-tech economic development. He outlined state initiatives such as the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS) and the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology (MsET) as well as federal programs including NASA’s Small Business Innovative Research awards and NASA Innovative Partnerships Program (IPP), which are leveraged by Mississippi through NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Hancock County.

“International collaboration plays such a vital role in sustainable economic growth in this area, which is why the International Trade Office is pleased to facilitate opportunities like this,” stated Jackson.

Lanoue explained how Emerging Technologies' state of the art Hyperspectral sensors were born out of the NASA “Commercial Space Program” and the Institute for Technology Development (ITD). He also provided an overview of primary markets where Hyperspectral technologies are now solving challenging problems and new opportunities for their use with Emerging Technologies’ expertise.

The Mississippi delegation then received a briefing by JAXA program managers on their technology sharing and international collaboration programs. JAXA officials expressed strong interest in Mississippi’s successful history in these areas, and provided guidance on how Mississippi-based organizations may explore relationships with JAXA partners to help bridge US and Japanese commercial space technology development. << Back to News Archive