Design and Take Action to Create Our Own Future :Being “Space Sweepers”

Lecturer: Mitsunobu OKADA (Founder and CEO, Astroscale)
Date: Saturday, November 30, 2019, 1:30-2:50 pm (Doors open at 1:00 pm)
Venue: Lecture Hall, International House of Japan
Language: Only available in Japanese (without English interpretation)
Admission: Free (reservations required) FULLY BOOKED

Space debris, the remnants of satellites and rockets orbiting around the earth at a speed of 7-8 km/sec, puts the functional satellites and astronauts at risk of collision. Thinking space debris could pose a serious threat to societal infrastructure such as telecommunications, weather forecasting, and GPS, and how it could be a common issue for people all around the world, Mr. Okada founded his company Astroscale in 2013, with the mission of removing space debris. His passion and entrepreneurship will help us tackle difficult issues that seem impossible to solve.

Founder and CEO, Astroscale

Mitsunobu OKADA

Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1973, Mr. Okada graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Tokyo, and earned an MBA from the Krannert School of Business, Purdue University, in 2001. After serving at the Japanese Ministry of Finance, then in a management consulting firm and in IT businesses, he has held his current position since 2013. He received the handwritten message, “Space is waiting for your challenge” from Japan’s first astronaut, Mamoru Mohri, when he was a ttenager, and he has been inspired to work on space ever since. Currently he is traveling across the world from his base in Singapore. Astroscale has received many honors such as the Forbes Japan “Start-up of the Year 2019”, and its business model has been chosen twice as a model case at Harvard Business School.

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