President Yamakawa of JAXA and Director General Marciano of the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) have signed today a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) on Space Development and Application. The signing ceremony was graced by the presence of H.E. Mr. Jose Castillo Laurel V, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to Japan, and H.E. Mr. Koshikawa, Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines. At the closure of the signing ceremony, Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) also gave a congratulatory address.

JAXA has been building a close cooperative relationship with the Philippines since before the establishment of PhilSA through its promotion of disaster management-related research in the Philippines, the deployment of PHL-Microsat-1 or “DIWATA-1,” the first microsatellite designed and built by the Philippines, from the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" on the International Space Station in 2016, and the launch of the PHL-Microsat-2 or "DIWATA-2" onboard the H-IIA launch vehicle in 2018.

With the conclusion of this MOC, the two organizations will further strengthen their cooperation.

President Yamakawa of JAXA (Top left)
Director General Marciano of the Philippine Space Agency (Top right)
H.E. Mr. Koshikawa, Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines (Bottom Left)
H.E. Mr. Jose Castillo Laurel V, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines to Japan (Bottom right)

Dr. Yamakawa, President of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Dr. Philippe Baptiste, Chair and Executive Officer of Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), met virtually on June 7, 2021.
On the occasion of their first meeting, Dr. Yamakawa and Dr. Baptiste exchanged views on the ongoing collaboration and shared a view on promoting partnership building on the wide range of cooperation between JAXA and CNES.

Dr. YAMAKAWA Hiroshi, President of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Minister INOUE Shinji of State for Space Policy of Japan, and Minister HAGIUDA Koichi of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan had a courtesy call with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator, Sen. Bill Nelson on May 21, 2021. This was the first call for NASA with an international partner since Sen. Nelson was sworn in as the Administrator on May 3. The importance of Japan-U.S. space cooperation and necessity of strengthening partnership was reaffirmed at the call.

Online courtesy call (upper left: Minister HAGIUDA, upper right: Dr. YAMAWAKA,
lower left: Sen. Nelson, lower right: Minister INOUE)

Dr. Yamakawa, the President of JAXA, and Mr. Palermo, the Head of ASA, held an online bilateral meeting on March 22, 2021.

During the meeting, the two sides shared information on their future plans and exchanged views on the possibility of cooperation in the fields of international space exploration and space science.

Since the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between JAXA and ASA in July last year, space cooperation between the two countries has been a topic of discussion at the summit meeting. Building on the cooperation established in the “Hayabusa2” capsule recovery mission, the two agencies concluded the meeting by confirming that they will further promote cooperation and contribute to the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

An online top-level meeting between Dr. YAMAKAWA Hiroshi, President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Dr. K. Sivan, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was held on March 11, 2021.

At the meeting, both agencies updated each other on their recent space activities and future plans, and confirmed the progress of ongoing joint cooperative projects such as the Utilization of Earth Observation Satellite Data, which aims to use Earth observation data to monitor heavy rainfall and rice-crop outlook, and the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission, which investigates water, a critical element for sustainable human activities on the Moon.

It has been 5 years since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between JAXA and ISRO, and the two agencies concluded the meeting by confirming that their mutual understanding has deepened and cooperation has expanded, and that they will continue to strengthen their cooperative relationship going forward.

Taking the opportunity of this meeting, both agencies signed an Implementation Arrangement (IA) on rice crop planted area monitoring and air quality monitoring. The two agencies will jointly conduct research to improve the data accuracy on the yields of paddy rice, which is a staple food in Asia, as well as aerosols, which impacts air quality.