With the Epsilon confirmed for development, Japan’s latest reentry technology experiment appears to have been conducted successfully with the test of  the U.S. Department of Defense’s Re-entry Breakup Recorder (REBR) on Kounotori 2 on March 31.

The DOD’s REBR

REBR recorded temperature, acceleration, rotational rate and other data during the  controlled reentry and successfully phoned home that data prior to final impact and was still  transmitting while floating in the ocean. REBR was made possible by using miniature sensors and cell phone technology, built as basically a satellite phone with a heat shield.

REBR’s stated purpose is to collect data during atmospheric reentries of space hardware in order to help understand breakup and increase the safety of such reentries. Of course this data is valuable for a number of dual-use reasons. Let’s not talking about improving the accuracy of warheads for now, however.

The robotic HTV-2 (Kountori-2) is a highly-advanced automatic cargo carrier for the ISS

The REBR project is supported by the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the Boeing Company. The first flight test of the small, autonomous device was coordinated by the Department of Defense’s Space Test Program which includes the Orbital Express program which is dual-use ASAT technology demonstrator, on top of a variety of military microsatellites tested and under development by the STP.

In Japan’s case, REBR  began collecting data,  ultimately detaching from the disintegrating spacecraft and continuing in freefall from approximately 60,000 feet from the ocean. REBR effectively made a “phone call” over about five minutes before landing in the Pacific Ocean.

A second test will be REBR’s reentry aboard the European Autonomous Transfer Vehicle 2, called Johannes Kepler, in early June.

As we pointed out in In Defense of Japan, Japan has made sure to accumulate reentry targeting technology through Hyflex, Express, USERS, and so on as part of its securing the technology option to develop a counterforce strategy based on Epsilon and the ability to develop highly compact, boosted fission warheads based on the country’s supply of supergrade.

Now the gloves appear to be off with JAXA working directly with the DOD.