Apparently the Japanese also want to build a reusable space vehicle like the Space Shuttle...Like *that* was a good idea in the first place. Anyone who builds an orbital spaceplane today is asking for problems. They're expensive, they have the dead weight of wings, and there are better, safer alternatives. Spaceplanes may be sexy, but it's telling that right now the cheapest most efficient manned access to space is the Russian Soyuz design.