On November 19-20, 2024, Dr. Josef Aschbacher, ESA (European Space Agency) Director General, and his team visited the JAXA Sagamihara Campus and Tsukuba Space Center.
At the Sagamihara Campus, Dr. YAMAKAWA Hiroshi, President of JAXA, introduced the Space Exploration Field, Extraterrestrial Sample Curation Center and MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) Control Room.
At the Tsukuba Space Center, he introduced facilities such as those for space debris removal and human spaceflight technologies. On those occasions, ESA-JAXA inter-agency meetings were held to deepen the cooperative relationship between the agencies. Dr. Aschbacher and Dr. Yamakawa signed the Joint Statements on Next Big Cooperation.

On October 30, JAXA and NASA received the Marshall Green Award by the Japan-America Society of Washington DC. The Marshall Green Award was established to recognize “an individual or a group that has made a sustained and significant contribution to strengthening relations between the United States and Japan, and/or to increasing understanding between the American and Japanese people.” JAXA and NASA were awarded for longstanding cooperation in the aerospace field.

To promote understanding of its research and development efforts in the aviation field, JAXA organizes the JAXA Aviation Symposium 2024 on October 18, 2024, in Tokyo, Japan.

This year’s symposium is being held at Tokyo Big Sight, coinciding with the Japan International Aerospace Exhibition (JA2024), where diverse players from the aviation and aerospace sectors gather from across the globe. The symposium showcases major projects and research activities of the JAXA Aviation Technology Directorate, along with its strategic directions. Presentations include key achievements and progress from the Fourth Medium-to-Long-Term Plan, such as the core-engine technology demonstration project called “En-Core Project,” “Aircraft Digital Transformation Technology,” and “Aviation Systems Research.”

Furthermore, the symposium features two special lectures by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and The Boeing Company. They give presentations on supersonic research and collaboration with JAXA. Following these special lectures, JAXA introduces its supersonic technology research and its new project, currently in the preparation stage, “Re-BooT.”

Additionally, JAXA has an exhibit booth at JA2024. We look forward to welcoming you to both the symposium and the exhibition booth.

Date: October 18(Friday), 2024, 13:00-16:25 (Door open 12:30)
Venue: Reception Hall A, Conference Tower, Tokyo Big Sight
Language: Japanese / English (with simultaneous interpretation)
Details and registration: https://www.aero.jaxa.jp/eng/symposium2024/

APRSAF Space Education for All Working Group (SE4AWG) would like to announce that we are offering three engaging online kids activities this year!

On 20 July 2024, the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) issued postage stamps to commemorate International Moon Day. The stamps feature various pictures from lunar missions, including from the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) and LEV-2 (SORA-Q).

July 20 was chosen to honor the anniversary of the first landing by humans on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission, and to raise public awareness about the commitment to sustainable lunar exploration on the part of national and international space programs.

SLIM landed on the lunar surface on January 20, 2024, and established communication with the Earth.

One picture is the image of the lunar surface captured by the SLIM onboard navigation camera after landing, and the other is the image of the lunar surface taken and transmitted by LEV-2 (SORA-Q).

The Transformable Lunar Robot (LEV-2, nicknamed “SORA-Q”) was jointly developed by JAXA, TOMY, Sony Group Corporation and Doshisha University.
LEV-2 was deployed from the SLIM spacecraft together with the Lunar Excursion Vehicle (LEV-1), and successfully conducted activities on the lunar surface. Inter-robot communication between LEV-1 and LEV-2 were accomplished and the telemetry data were sent directly from LEV-1 to the Earth.

JAXA will provide the live coverage of the launch of Advanced Land Observing Satellite-4 "DAICHI-4" (ALOS-4) aboard the third H3 Launch Vehicle (H3F3).

Broadcast Start: around 11:00 a.m. (JST) / 2:00 a.m. (UTC) on July 1, 2024
Launch Time: 12:06:42 (JST) through 12:19:34 (JST)
* The time is the 24-hour clock
Launch Site: JAXA Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC)

The live broadcast schedule may be subject to change.

Jun. 28, 2024 (14:00) [release]
Press Release: Launch Schedule of Advanced Land Observing Satellite-4 “DAICHI-4” (ALOS-4) aboard the third H3 Launch Vehicle (H3 F3) [Rescheduled]

Following the earthquake in the Noto region, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, on January 1, 2024, JAXA conducted emergency observations using the Advanced Land Observation Satellite-2, ALOS-2, from the night of January 1. Based on the satellite data, JAXA provided information, including analysis results, to disaster management organizations. That information is summarized and released on a webpage.

The webpage introduces analysis results of crustal deformation, landslides, building damage, fire detection, and the information provided through international cooperation frameworks.

We would like to express our deepest condolences and sympathy to the people affected by the earthquake. We pray for the safety of everyone in the affected areas and the earliest possible return to their normal lives.

JAXA President Dr. Yamakawa and Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) CEO Dr. Serres have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in the field of space activities for peaceful purposes, June 13, 2024.The signing ceremony, which took place during the opening session of the Luxembourg – Japan Business Forum, was graced by His Royal Highness Prince Guillaume and Minister of Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Mr. Delles.

Taking in to account the good relationship between the government of Luxembourg and Japan, JAXA have been exchanging information with LSA at international conferences and on the occasion of visit to Japan by the Luxembourg Ministry of Economy and LSA. This MoC will create an environment that will enable LSA and JAXA to exchange views and ideas for future cooperation. Discussions will be held especially in the areas of space exploration and mutual use of supercomputers and facilities. Based on this MoC, JAXA also signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with LuxProvide to cooperate in the domains of space, supercomputing, quantum and AI on the same day.

With the signing of this MoC with LSA, JAXA will further develop the cooperation between Luxembourg and Japan in the field of space.

His Excellency Mr. Lex Delles, Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism
His Royal Highness Prince Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie
Dr. Marc Serres, CEO of LSA
Dr. Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of JAXA
(©MECO)

On April 10, 2024, the “Implementing Arrangement between the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America concerning Lunar Surface Exploration using the Pressurized Rover” was signed by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT), Masahito Moriyama.

This is the first Implementing Arrangement signed under the “Framework Agreement Between the Government of Japan and the Government of the United States of America for Cooperation in Space Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, For Peaceful Purposes”, signed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs at the time Yoshimasa Hayashi in January 2023, with the participation of the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the signing ceremony.
Under this Implementing Arrangement, the provision of a Pressurized Rover by Japan as well as opportunities for two Japanese astronauts to land and carry activities on the lunar surface are stipulated.
JAXA will steadily conduct research and development of the Crewed Pressurized Rover to fulfill Japan’s role and make necessary preparations for Japanese astronauts’ activities on the lunar surface.

KUNINAKA Hitoshi, Director General of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), JAXA has been elected as an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
AIAA is the world's largest aerospace engineering society, and individuals who have contributed to the development of aerospace for a long time and made outstanding achievements are selected as Honorary Fellows.
Director General Kuninaka's comments are as follows.

The AIAA Honorary Fellows is the highest level of the AIAA title, first awarded in 1932 to Orville Wright, the younger brother of the Wright brothers, and since then 238 have been elected through 2023.

As I look at the list of Honorary Fellows, there are many legends of fluid mechanics and aerospace engineering who have been named after NASA field centers and aerospace companies. Also they are familiar to us from textbooks such as,
Joseph S. Ames (1934),Neil A. Armstrong (1971),Richard H. Battin (1990), Donald W. Douglas (1936), Charles Draper (1958),Hugh L. Dryden (1939),Leroy Grumman (1951), George W. Lewis (1940).Glenn L. Martin (1937),James McDonnell (1968), John K. Northrop (1969), Ludwig Prandtl (1933), Wernher von Braun (1970), Theodore von Kármán (1936)
Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate the year of the elected.
Dr. Itiro Tani is the only Japanese recipient of this Honorary Fellow.

With the title of "for development of electric propulsion to acquire the first material from an asteroid and work on high voltage systems in space”, I am deeply honored and humbled by this great honor. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the many friends and colleagues for their tremendous support.
I will continue to devote myself to the promotion of aerospace/space science so that I may live up to the name of this title.

KUNINAKA Hitoshi
Director General of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), JAXA

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) have signed a framework agreement for collaborative research in the field of aviation.

Since 2012, JAXA and the NRC have been forging collaborative relationships through joint research in the aviation field. The launch of the NRC’s Japan office in October 2019 helped strengthen the relationship between the two organizations. Currently, JAXA and the NRC are conducting research on lightning strike protection of composite materials and particle ingestion into engines.

With the conclusion of the agreement, JAXA and the NRC will further deepen the collaborative ties, creating more opportunities for continued cooperation.