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.

On August 22, 2023, the International Space Station Multilateral Coordination Board (ISS MCB Meeting) was held at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in United States, and JAXA participated as a member of the ISS Partnership.

The ISS MCB Meeting serves as the top-level international coordination meeting for the ISS program, where important matters related to the operations and utilization of the ISS are regularly discussed.

This meeting marked the first of its kind after Canada, Europe, Russia, Japan, and the United States each committed to participating in the extension of ISS operations beyond 2025. Representatives from each partner discussed topics related to the operation of the ISS as an orbital laboratory, including crucial research and technology demonstrations for future space exploration. Furthermore, they discussed the role and utilization of the ISS for the benefit of humanity, as well as its role in commercial economic activities in Low Earth Orbit in the 2030s and the expansion of human activities to the Moon and beyond.

Following the meeting, a joint statement was issued:

JAXA will provide the live coverage of the launch of the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) and the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) onboard the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 47 (H-IIA F47).

Broadcast Time: around 8:10 a.m. to 9:40 a.m. (JST) on September 7, 2023/ 23:10 p.m. on September 6 to 0:40 a.m. (UTC) on September 7, 2023
Launch Time: 8:42:11 A.M. (JST) on September 7, 2023 / 23:42:11 p.m. (UTC) on September 6, 2023
Launch Site: Launch Site: JAXA Tanegashima Space Center

The broadcast date and time are subject to change.