2.Background of Project Initiation
OSG Corporation was founded in Tokyo in 1938, and welcomed its 78th year as a global cutting tool manufacturer in March 2016. OSG produces products such as taps, drills, end mills, as well as measurement tools that are sold around the world. OSG products are used worldwide, with major customers concentrated in the automotive sector. In recent years, there has also been a sharp increase in OSG’s participation of aviation-related manufacturing.
Amidst this rise, OSG’s Managing Director Jiro Osawa encountered Yasu Yamazaki of ASTROSCALE in June 2015 at the Paris Air Show, and was greatly impressed by the current IDEA OSG 1 mission.
In the course of space exploration, mankind has created rockets, satellites, and space stations, but the debris resulting from putting these innovations into space is now a large stumbling block in its development. Moreover, this problem has become increasingly serious, and it is now understood to be an impending, grave danger to items that have become essential to our everyday lives, such as weather forecast, GPS, and other services provided by satellites.
It has always been the goal and desire of OSG to use manufacturing to contribute to a society that betters the lives of people around the world. OSG has taken a deep interest in global environmental issues, and was genuinely shocked when it came to understand the magnitude of the issues posed by space debris.
Since its founding, OSG has continuously strived to serve as a corporation that contributes to the happiness of not only its customers, but to global society as a whole — a hope represented by its brand message “shaping your dreams.”
In this current endeavor, the desire of Nobu Okada of ASTROSCALE, the research staff, and all those engaged in the development of space to directly confront the “issue of space debris” made a powerful impression. OSG decided to sponsor this project, motivated by the ability to contribute to this monumental challenge facing ASTROSCALE.