JAXA

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is the operator of the Japanese space program and Japan's national aeronautics research agency. It was formed in 2003 through the merger of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan, and the National Space Development Agency of Japan. JAXA has conducted missions including the SELENE lunar orbiter, the SLIM lunar lander and rovers, and the Hayabusa asteroid missions. Hayabusa returned samples from an asteroid in 2010, while Hayabusa2 deployed rovers on an asteroid surface. Akatsuki studied Venus from orbit between 2015 and 2024. IKAROS tested solar sail propulsion in interplanetary space. BepiColombo, launched jointly with the European Space Agency in 2018, is a mission to Mercury. Martian Moons eXploration is scheduled to launch in December 2026 and is planned to return samples from Phobos. JAXA operates the H3, a medium-lift launch vehicle, from Tanegashima Space Center and the Epsilon S, a small-lift launch vehicle, from Uchinoura Space Center. JAXA is one of five space agencies participating in the International Space Station (ISS) program. It developed Kibō, the station's largest module, and since 2009 has regularly resupplied the ISS using the HTV and later HTV-X cargo spacecraft. Since 1992, eleven members of the JAXA Astronaut Corps have flown aboard the Space Shuttle, Soyuz, and Dragon 2 spacecraft, primarily on missions to the ISS.