Fundamental technology for equipment certification

Equipment installed on an aircraft accounts for roughly 40% of the aircraft’s price. It is a vital industrial field that Japanese manufacturers are expected to enter in the years to come. On the other hand, most of the avionics (electronic devices used on aircraft) are dependent on foreign-made products.

Before equipment can be installed on aircraft, it must first obtain certification from the aviation authorities after being tested for safety and other requirements. One of the biggest obstacles that stand in the way of Japanese manufacturers seeking to enter this field is certification of software used in the equipment.

JAXA has been conducting numerous research and development activities on avionics-related technologies. Drawing on its core technologies and hub functions, JAXA has established the Software Certification Technology Initiative for Aircraft Equipment in collaboration with leading equipment manufacturers and others.

JAXA will accumulate necessary know-how and information to obtain software certification through its research projects and will support Japanese equipment manufacturers’ activity by using this initiative as a conduit for sharing the accumulated information. Through these efforts, JAXA will continue to play an active role in helping to boost the competitiveness of the Japanese aviation industry.

• Activities for collaboration: Software Certification Technology Initiative for Aircraft Equipment (In Japanese)
• FLIGHT PATH No.15/16 "Navigating activities for the certification of aviation equipment"
• FLIGHT PATH No.15/16 "Challenge of the Next Generation Aeronautical Innovation Hub Center"
• Applied fundamental technology