Translated from Japanese with Google Translate

TOKYO (JAXA/GITAI PR) — GITAI Japan Co., Ltd. and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will identify tasks that require robotics in outer space, and robots that perform these tasks. Aiming to acquire technology and provide services by robots, we will start business concept co-creation activities under the JAXA Space Innovation Partnership and and Co-creation (J-SPARC) initiative.

HOKKAIDO and TOKYO, Japan (Space BD PR) — Space BD Inc., the leading space startup in Japan that provides access to space using the International Space Station (ISS) Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” and rideshares on Japan’s flagship launch vehicle “H3”, announced that it will provide cubesat deployment service from the ISS for HMU-SAT1.

HMU-SAT1 is a nanosatellite developed by Space Development Research Club at the Hokkaido University of Science with support from E+CRAFTMAN Co. Ltd., a leading Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) company based in Sapporo, Hokkaido.

TOKYO (Space BD PR) — Space BD Inc., the leading space startup in Japan that provides access to space using the International Space Station Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” and rideshares on Japan’s flagship launch vehicle “H3,” announced that it will provide SmallSatellite deployment service from the International Space Station to ASTROFLASH Inc. ASTROFLASH is a startup that aims to bring space closer to everyday life through the world’s first satellite platform for visual attraction. The two companies have signed the launch service contract.

TOKYO (JAXA PR) — Bascule Inc. (Representative Director & President: Masayoshi Boku), SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (Representative Director, President & Chief Executive Officer: Eiichi Yonekura), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) (President: Hiroshi Yamakawa) announced the launch of activities to establish a studio in the International Space Station (ISS) to generate the “space media business.”

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — With only minutes until sunrise aboard the International Space Station (ISS), astronaut Nick Hague rushed to shut off the lights in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). Traveling 17,500 miles per hour, the space station orbits Earth 16 times in 24 hours, so every 90 minutes, the space station experiences a sunrise. For this sunrise, though, the speed of their approach was putting a time crunch on Hague. To capture this moment, timing was everything as he worked diligently to set up the perfect camera shot.

TOKYO (JAXA PR) — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will host a programming competition involving free-flying robots1 of JAXA and NASA in ISS/Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) known as “Kibo”. The preliminary round of this competition will be between April and June 2020, with the final round being around September 2020. Starting today (October 11, 2019) until March 19, 2020 (17:00 JST), JAXA is calling for the participation of students in […]

TOKYO (JAXA PR) — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Ricoh Company, Ltd. (Ricoh), today announced that they have jointly developed a spherical camera that can be used in outer space (outside the spacecraft) to capture 360-degree spherical images in a single shot.

This camera will be used as to monitor the operation of the biaxial gimbal of the SOLISS (Small Optical Link for International Space Station). (*1) It will be carried aboard the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV8) “KOUNOTORI-8”, the cargo transporter to the International Space Station (ISS), which is scheduled for launch on September 11th, 2019.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) cargo ship H-II Transfer Vehicle-8 (HTV-8) is scheduled to lift off Sept. 10 at 5:33 p.m. EDT (6:33 a.m. Japan Standard Time) to the International Space Station from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center, 10 years after JAXA launched its first HTV mission. HTV-8 arrives at the space station on Sept. 14.

Here are details about some of the scientific investigations and facilities heading to the orbiting lab on HTV-8.

TOKYO (JAXA PR) — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA, President: Hiroshi Yamakawa) and Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc. (Sony CSL, President and CEO: Hiroaki Kitano) have announced their plans to conduct in-orbit demonstrations of the long-distance laser communication system, which they have jointly developed with the aim of establishing a real-time, mass-data communication system for future inter-satellite communications and communications with ground stations.