The National Space Development Agency of Japan,or NASDA,was a Japanese national space agency established on October 1,1969 under the National Space Development Agency Law only for peaceful purposes. Based on the Space Development Program enacted by the Minister of Education,Culture,Sports,Science and Technology (MEXT),NASDA was responsible for developing satellites and launch vehicles as well as launching and tracking them.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations,JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research,technology development and launch of satellites into orbit,and is involved in many more advanced missions such as asteroid exploration and possible human exploration of the Moon. Its motto is One JAXA and its corporate slogan is Explore to Realize.
HOPE was a Japanese experimental spaceplane project designed by a partnership between NASDA and NAL,started in the 1980s. It was positioned for most of its lifetime as one of the main Japanese contributions to the International Space Station,the other being the Japanese Experiment Module. The project was eventually cancelled in 2003,by which point test flights of a sub-scale testbed had flown successfully.
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science,or ISAS,is a Japanese national research organization of astrophysics using rockets,astronomical satellites and interplanetary probes which played a major role in Japan's space development. Since 2003,it is a division of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
This article outlines notable events occurring in 2006 in spaceflight,including major launches and EVAs. 2006 saw Brazil,Iran,and Sweden all get a national into space for the first time.
Ajisai is a Japanese satellite sponsored by NASDA,launched in 1986 on the maiden flight of the H-I rocket. It is also known as the Experimental Geodetic Satellite (EGS),as it carries the Experimental Geodetic Payload (EGP).
The H-II (H2) rocket was a Japanese satellite launch system,which flew seven times between 1994 and 1999,with five successes. It was developed by NASDA in order to give Japan a capability to launch larger satellites in the 1990s. It was the first two-stage liquid-fuelled rocket Japan made using only technologies developed domestically. It was superseded by the H-IIA rocket following reliability and cost issues.
JAXA Engineering Test SatelliteETS-VIII was the eighth technology test satellite in a series which started with ETS-1 in 1975 by NASDA. It was launched with the H-2A on December 18,2006. ETS-VIII was developed by JAXA in cooperation with NICT and NTT. The aim of ETS-VIII was to enable satellite communications with small terminals. Unlike the Iridium satellites for mobile communication,ETS-VIII was positioned at GEO. However to fulfill the task,it was essential that the satellite carried two very large antennas. It was the first use of the 204 configuration of the H-IIA launch vehicle.
The ETS-VII,or Engineering Test Satellite No. 7,was a satellite developed and launched by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). It is also known as KIKU-7. It was launched aboard an H-II rocket from Tanegashima Space Center,on 28 November 1997. The ETS-VII was equipped with a 2-meter-long (6.6 ft) robotic arm,which was used to carry out several experiments related to rendezvous docking and space robotics. It was the world's first satellite to be equipped with a robotic arm,and also Japan's first uncrewed spacecraft to conduct autonomous rendezvous and docking operations successfully,decades after the docking of the Soviet Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188 spacecraft in 1967. Although it was originally intended to be used for 1.5 years,the satellite was functional for a period of almost five years. ETS-VII eventually decayed from orbit on 13 November 2015.
The N-II or N-2 was a derivative of the American Delta rocket,produced under licence in Japan. It replaced the N-I-rocket in Japanese use. It used a Thor-ELT first stage,a Delta-F second stage,nine Castor SRMs,and on most flights either a Star-37E or Burner-2 upper stage,identical to the US Delta 0100 series configurations. Eight were launched between 1981 and 1987,before it was replaced by the H-I,which featured Japanese-produced upper stages. All eight launches were successful.
The Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer (USEF) (財団法人無人宇宙実験システム研究開発機構) was a Japanese space agency,which was founded by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1986. Unlike NASDA,ISAS,and NAL,it was not included in the JAXA organization,which was founded in 2003. The chairperson is Ichiro Taniguchi.
Hayato,known before launch as KSAT,or the Kagoshima Satellite,is a Japanese satellite which was launched on 20 May 2010. It is a student-built spacecraft,which is operated by Kagoshima University,and is being used for technology demonstration and atmospheric research. The satellite is a single unit CubeSat,and carries equipment to study water vapour in the Earth's atmosphere,microwave imagery and spacecraft communication.
The Earth Observation Center is a Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aeronautical research facility located in Hatoyama,Saitama,Japan. It utilizes remote sensing technologies such as satellites to study Earth's environment from outer space. The research done by this center has a substantial impact on the study of the Earth's environmental phenomena,such as global warming.
The Japanese space program originated in the mid-1950s as a research group led by Hideo Itokawa at the University of Tokyo. The size of the rockets produced gradually increased from under 30 cm (12 in) at the start of the project,to over 15 m (49 ft) by the mid-1960s. The aim of the original research project was to launch a man-made satellite.
The (Japanese) Lunar Exploration Program is a program of robotic and human missions to the Moon undertaken by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and its division,the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). It is also one of the three major enterprises of the JAXA Space Exploration Center (JSPEC). The main goal of the program is "to elucidate the origin and evolution of the Moon and utilize the Moon in the future".
The Epsilon Launch Vehicle,or Epsilon rocket,is a Japanese solid-fuel rocket designed to launch scientific satellites. It is a follow-on project to the larger and more expensive M-V rocket which was retired in 2006. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) began developing the Epsilon in 2007. It is capable of placing a 590 kg payload into Sun-synchronous orbit.
Hisaki,also known as the Spectroscopic Planet Observatory for Recognition of Interaction of Atmosphere (SPRINT-A) was a Japanese ultraviolet astronomy satellite operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The first mission of the Small Scientific Satellite program,it was launched in September 2013 on the maiden flight of the Epsilon rocket. It was used for extreme ultraviolet observations of the Solar System planets.
The BT-4 is a pressure-fed liquid rocket engine designed and manufactured by IHI Aerospace of Japan. It was originally developed for the LUNAR-A project,but it has been used as a liquid apogee engine in some geostationary communications satellite based on the Lockheed Martin A2100 and GEOStar-2 satellite buses. It has also been used on the HTV and Cygnus automated cargo spacecraft.
The Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program is a series of spacecraft missions for testing technology and ideas put forward by universities and private companies. The program demonstrates various experimental devices and technology in space by providing flight opportunities. It is managed by the JAXA Research and Development Directorate. According to JAXA,the goal of this program is to test high risk,innovative technology that will lead to the space industry gaining competitiveness in the international field.
