Latest Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Stories

Based on a cooperative agreement, ESA has been delivering data from ALOS "“ Japan's four-ton Earth Observation satellite "“ to users across Europe and Africa since its launch three years ago. ESA's efforts have been recognized by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency with an award of appreciation.Dr Yasushi Horikawa, Executive Director of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), wrote to ESA to express appreciation for its "significant contribution over the last 8 years in the...

The first greenhouse gas monitoring satellite was launched into space Friday from the space center on the Japanese island of Tanegashima. Aboard the H2A rocket was Ibuki, the world's first greenhouse-gas monitoring satellite, and seven baby satellites, The China Post reported. The development cost for the greenhouse-gas monitoring satellite was $206 million, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said. Space agency officials said they already have selected four other piggybacks for a launch...

Japan launched its Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) on Friday, in hopes of gathering unprecedented information on how the earth emits carbon dioxide and methane across the globe. Japan successfully launched the satellite, known as Ibuki, meaning "vitality," from a site in Tanegashima, a remote island about 600 miles (970 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo, using the H-2A rocket, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)."Global warming is one of the most pressing...

On Tuesday, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan said it hopes to gain more orders for its H-2A rocket after sealing its first foreign customer deal with South Korea.The company seeks to compete with European Arianespace, and Sea Launch, a division of Boeing.Prior to the deal with Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), Mitsubishi Heavy had only secured business within Japanese borders. "With this order as a start, we hope to receive more satellite launch orders," said a Mitsubishi Heavy...

Japan is set to launch its Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) this month in an effort to monitor the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane around the world. Slated to launch using the H-2A rocket on January 21, GOSAT is also known as Ibuki, which is Japanese for "breath" because the satellite will track how the Earth exhales greenhouse gases in 56,000 locations around the world. It will orbit at an altitude of 666 kilometers above the Earth. There were only 282 land-based...

NASA landed on Mars, photographed distant worlds, added to the International Space Station, took part in a lunar science mission with India and made major progress toward returning astronauts to the moon as the agency celebrated its 50th birthday in 2008. Here on Earth, NASA researchers recorded the continued decline of Arctic sea ice, won awards for aviation breakthroughs, discovered the cause of storms that brighten the Northern Lights and helped create state-of-the-art swimsuits worn by...

Nations around the world will join together to mark a milestone in space exploration this week, celebrating the 10th birthday of a unique research laboratory, the International Space Station.Now the largest spacecraft ever built, the orbital assembly of the space station began with the launch from Kazakhstan of its first bus-sized component, Zarya, on Nov. 20, 1998. The launch began an international construction project of unprecedented complexity and sophistication.The station is a venture...

Japan's space agency announced Tuesday it is set to hit another milestone in sending the country's first astronaut mother into space.Naoko Yamazaki, mother of a 6-year-old girl, will board Atlantis, set to lift off sometime after February 2010 for a two-week flight, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said.Atlantis will carry materials to the International Space Station, officials said. Japanese women are still under-represented in many fields, including business and politics, and...

Heads of space agencies worldwide have convened in Glasgow, UK for the 2008 International Astronautical Congress.Nasa boss Mike Griffin, Jean-Jacques Dordain of the Esa, Russia's deputy Alexander Medvedchikov, Sun Laiyan of China, and Japan's Keij Tachikawa are all among attendees to this year's meeting to address the current and future climate of space exploration. Mike Griffin said he feels "quite secure in looking forward to the future" because Nasa is receiving the support it needs from...

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (President and CEO: Setsuhiro Shimomura) announced today it has successfully launched Superbird-7, which is Japan's first domestically produced commercial communications satellite, and the next-generation communications satellite for Space Communications Corporation (SCC). Superbird-7 was successfully launched from Guiana Space Center, French Guiana at 5:44 a.m. on August 15 (Japan time) using Arianespace's launch vehicle, Ariane 5. The satellite separated...