When HALCA (Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communications and Astronomy) blasted off into space aboard the M-V rocket in 1997, I was so nervous that I felt as if I were in the rocket myself. The launch was in itself a truly exciting event, but when the satellite successfully completed its first orbit and its signals were detected at the launch site, I was as excited as I had been when I saw my new-born baby for the first time. HALCA is the world's first radio-astronomy satellite equipped with a large deployable antenna, which is 8 metres in diameter. HALCA is the space component of the experimental VLBI Space Observatory Programme (VSOP). The program's goal is to link an in-orbit radio telescope with a group of radio telescopes on the ground, thus creating a huge radio telescope with a diameter larger than that of Earth. By inter-linking with a worldwide radio-telescope network, we were able to create a "space eye" - a huge radio telescope with a diameter of 30,000 kilometres, The link to HALCA is provided by a network of five ground tracking stations. Since the huge radio telescope was created, we have been conducting scientific observations on a daily basis. This program is called VSOP, the VLBI Space Observatory Programme. In cooperation with other countries, Japan has taken the leading role in the field of space VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry. To take full advantage of our engineering and scientific experience, we have proposed VSOP-II, a second-generation program that will be a full-fledged scientific mission. It is wonderful that there is a scientific field in which Japan has been playing a leading role over two generations. Though we have a central role, we regard this program as something we have to build up in tandem with other countries. I hope that Japan's science will contribute to the accumulation of essential technology, such as large and precise deployable antennas, highly sensitive radio receivers, wide bandwidth transmission, coherent interferometry technology, etc. MORE >>