Country Details
Japan
Eastern Asia, island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula
Explore Information
Choose a category to dive deeper
Space
Detailed information and insights
Space agency/agencies
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA; established in 2003) (2025)
Space launch site(s)
Tanegashima Space Center/Yoshinobu Launch Complex (Kagoshima), Uchinoura Space Center (Kagoshima), Noshiro Testing Center (Akita) (2025)
Space program overview
has one of the world’s largest and most advanced space programs, with independent capabilities in all areas except autonomous manned space flight; designs, builds, launches, and operates the full spectrum of satellites; designs, builds, and independently launches satellite/space launch vehicles (SLVs) and other spacecraft; has a wide range of research and development programs; has an astronaut training program; participates in international programs such as the International Space Station and the Square Kilometer Array radio telescope project; leads the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum and co-leads the Global Earth Observation System of Systems; cooperates with a variety of foreign space agencies and industries, including those of Canada, the ESA and its member states, India, Russia, the UAE, the US; has a commercial space industry that develops space-related capabilities and technologies, including satellites, satellite payloads and subcomponents, and SLVs; in recent years, the Japanese Government has supported space startup companies (2025)
Key space-program milestones
1966-1970 - initiated satellite launch vehicle (SLV) program and launched first domestically produced satellite (OHSUMI)
1985 - launched two Halley’s Comet observation satellites (Japan’s first missions beyond Earth’s orbit)
1992 - first astronaut in space on US Space Shuttle
1998 - launched its first Mars orbiter (failed to enter orbit)
2003 - launched world’s first uncrewed spacecraft (Hayabusa 1) to return with a sample from an asteroid (2010)
2007 - launched Lunar orbiter (Kaguya) mission
2010 - launched Venus orbiter (Akatsuki) mission
2014 - launched asteroid probe with lander/rover (Hayabusa 2); first Japanese International Space Station commander
2018 - launched joint Japan-ESA probe to Mercury (BepiColombo); began operation of a navigational/positioning satellite constellation (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, QZSS)
2019 - began participating in US-led lunar orbital station and Moon exploration programs
2024 - soft-landed unmanned spacecraft (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon or SLIM) on the Moon; conducted first successful test launch of domestically produced H3 medium-lift SLV
1985 - launched two Halley’s Comet observation satellites (Japan’s first missions beyond Earth’s orbit)
1992 - first astronaut in space on US Space Shuttle
1998 - launched its first Mars orbiter (failed to enter orbit)
2003 - launched world’s first uncrewed spacecraft (Hayabusa 1) to return with a sample from an asteroid (2010)
2007 - launched Lunar orbiter (Kaguya) mission
2010 - launched Venus orbiter (Akatsuki) mission
2014 - launched asteroid probe with lander/rover (Hayabusa 2); first Japanese International Space Station commander
2018 - launched joint Japan-ESA probe to Mercury (BepiColombo); began operation of a navigational/positioning satellite constellation (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, QZSS)
2019 - began participating in US-led lunar orbital station and Moon exploration programs
2024 - soft-landed unmanned spacecraft (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon or SLIM) on the Moon; conducted first successful test launch of domestically produced H3 medium-lift SLV