On August 13, we held a media preview of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft at the Tanegashima Space Center. Although the timing coincided with the Japanese holiday period, many media outlets attended to cover the event. Once again, we would like to express our gratitude. Next week, on September 24, we plan to open the mission control room, where MMX operations and management take place, at the Sagamihara Campus. At the Sagamihara Campus, meanwhile, we are steadily preparing for the approximately five-year mission operation, including preparations for the spacecraft’s launch, observations of the Martian sphere, the world’s first sample collection from the Martian moon Phobos, and the spacecraft’s return to Earth. At the Tanegashima Space Center, too, preparations are underway at the launch site for both the MMX mission and the H3 Launch Vehicle flight No.10, its delivery system.
We will work closely with everyone involved in the projects, as well as representatives from partner companies, to ensure steady progress in our preparatory work.

This summer has brought plenty of news about planetary exploration, space observation, and related topics. In addition to the MMX mission mentioned earlier, the asteroid probe “Hayabusa2” conducted a flyby of the asteroid “Torifune” on July 5, the first target of its extended mission, and successfully demonstrated high-precision orbital guidance, among other achievements, which I’m sure are still fresh in your memory.

On August 30, NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a large space telescope designed to conduct wide-field observations of the universe using the near-infrared and visible light spectrums. Japanese research institutions and researchers from JAXA, the University of Osaka, the National Institutes of Natural Sciences' National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and the Center for Astrobiology are collaborating on this project. Key contributions include developing and providing components of a coronagraph instrument installed for technology demonstrations to directly observe exoplanets, transmitting and receiving observational data via the JAXA Misasa Deep Space Ground Station, and participating in coordinated observations using the “Subaru Telescope.”
I understand that the telescope is currently operating properly and as planned, and the initial calibration of the wide-field observation instrument, the other onboard instrument, has begun.
In addition, from September 7 to 9, the Misasa Deep Space Exploration Ground Station successfully transmitted and received data with the Roman Space Telescope.
We will continue to support and cooperate with others on operations and observations and strive to deliver research results.

BepiColombo is an international joint project by JAXA and the European Space Agency (ESA) that aims to observe the solar system's innermost planet's magnetic field and magnetosphere, as well as its interior and surface, to elucidate the planet's origin and evolution, while uncovering the universality and uniqueness of planetary magnetic fields and magnetospheres. JAXA is primarily responsible for the developing and operating the Mercury Magnetosphere Orbiter “Mio” (MMO).
Launched on October 20, 2018, from French Guiana in South America aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, Mio is finally scheduled to arrive at Mercury this November after approximately eight years and nine planetary flybys.
On September 3, the propulsion module was separated from the probe after completing its role in the outbound journey to Mercury. The probe is planned to enter Mercury’s orbit around November 21, and in December, JAXA’s Mercury magnetosphere probe “Mio” will separate from ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter “MPO”. After the separation, we will sequentially verify each probe's status, prepare its onboard observation instruments, and initiate observations.
Already, research findings from BepiColombo have been made available during the period before arriving at Mercury. A research paper published in 2023 that shed light on aspects of the electromagnetic environment of Mercury’s magnetosphere and a 2024 paper that elucidated the plasma environment within Mercury’s magnetosphere were both based on observation data collected during the Mercury swing-by.
All project members remain fully committed to carrying out observation operations at Mercury with the utmost diligence to support further research efforts.

Once again, this summer, a series of large-scale natural disasters struck both in Japan and abroad. We express our deepest condolences to those who lost their lives and extend our heartfelt sympathies to all those affected by these disasters. We sincerely pray for the swift restoration and reconstruction of the affected areas.

JAXA uses the Advanced Land Observation Satellite “DAICHI-2” and the Advanced Radar Satellite “DAICHI-4” to support disaster response efforts in collaboration with domestic and international disaster prevention agencies and organizations.
In Japan, immediately after the Reiwa 8 Kumamoto Earthquake on July 28, we conducted emergency observations with “DAICHI-2” and “DAICHI-4” at the request of disaster prevention agencies under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Tourism Agency. We delivered the collected data to relevant agencies to assess crustal alteration and sediment movement. Additionally, we utilized the “Building Damage Estimation Tool,” currently in a trial phase, and shared the damage estimates with the Cabinet Office and Kumamoto Prefectural Government. I understand that Kumamoto Prefecture used JAXA's estimate to evaluate damage to residential properties quickly. We also invoked the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters to help assess the extent of the damage by incorporating satellite imagery provided by overseas organizations. Also, we supported relevant agencies in responding rapidly to disasters by providing flood zone estimates after the torrential rain in the Hokuriku and Kanto regions, and by supplying disaster alert maps and other materials after the landslide in Aomori Prefecture and the Izu Islands.

On the global stage, as part of the international response to the large-scale floods and landslides that occurred on August 26 near the Chinese border in northern Nepal, JAXA activated “Sentinel Asia,” an international cooperation project for monitoring natural disasters in the region in response to a request from the Nepalese Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. This project is one of the initiatives of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), for which JAXA serves as the secretariat. In collaboration with the International Disaster Charter, JAXA also conducted emergency observations using the “DAICHI-2” satellite on August 28. JAXA delivered the observation data and analysis results to Nepalese government agencies and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), among others, to help assess the damage and support recovery efforts.
The recent disaster is believed to have been caused by a large-scale landslide on a mountain slope, including a glacier, which sent massive amounts of sediment and rock downstream, resulting in significant damage. JAXA conducted emergency observations with the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) onboard “DAICHI-2” to automatically estimate flood damage. Because SAR can observe the Earth’s surface regardless of time of day or weather conditions, it is an effective observation tool in the Himalayan region, where cloud cover is heavy during the monsoon season.

Regarding the Kumamoto Earthquake and the floods and landslides in Nepal, JAXA has published case studies of analyses using observational data on the JAXA Earth Observation Research Center (EORC) website and other platforms. JAXA is also making disaster-related observational data from “DAICHI-2” and “DAICHI-4” available free of charge to support its use by disaster prevention agencies and research institutions.
JAXA will continue to collaborate with disaster management agencies and international organizations at home and abroad, using satellite data to support rapid damage assessment and help disaster-stricken areas, while working toward disaster prevention and mitigation in the international community, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.