Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has agreed to cooperate with Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) on the study-phase activities in JAXA’s Martian Moons eXploration(MMX) mission and analysis of Hayabusa2-returned samples.
Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of JAXA and Jean-Yves LE GALL, President of CNES signed the two Implementing Arrangements for MMX and Hayabusa2 cooperation on June 26, 2019.

On the occasion of the visit by Mr. Emanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, to Japan, the exchange ceremony of the signed two Implementing Arrangements took place at the Prime Minister’s Office of Japan in the presence of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Emmanuel Macron.

The MMX mission is planned to observe Mars’ two moons, Phobos and Deimos and to collect surface material from one of the moons to bring back to Earth. It aims to clarify the origin of the Martian moons and the process of evolution for Mars region and to improve technologies required for future exploration.
MMX is currently in the phase of preparation for developing a spacecraft and the launch is targeted in FY2024.

CNES will contribute to this mission by providing the near infrared spectrometer (MacrOmega) and the knowledge and expertise of the Flight Dynamics, as well as by conducting studies of rover which is to be equipped on MMX spacecraft jointly with German Aerospace Center (DLR).

For more information on MMX, visit:

Hayabusa2 is a successor of Hayabusa. By investigating the asteroid Ryugu（type-C asteroid）and collecting samples for return to Earth, it aims to clarify the origins and evolution of Earth as well as organic materials that formed the oceans and the life.
Hayabusa2 was launched on December 3, 2014 and arrived at Ryugu in June 2018. It is scheduled to return to Earth at the end of 2020.

Under this agreement, CNES will provide the infrared spectroscopy microscope (MicrOmega) to be equipped in JAXA Extraterrestrial Samples Curation Center. It will contribute to improve the analysis of asteroid samples. In addition, this agreement stipulates the data policy which defines how to share and manage data from the MicrOmega.

For more information on Hayabusa2, visit:

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has agreed to cooperate with German Aerospace Center (DLR) on the study-phase activities in JAXA's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission.
Hitoshi Kuninaka, Vice President of JAXA and, Hansjörg Dittus and Walther Pelzer, Executive Board Members of DLR have signed the Implementing Arrangement at the Paris Airshow in France on June 18, 2019.

The MMX mission is planned to observe Mars' two moons, Phobos and Deimos and to collect surface material from one of the moons to bring back to Earth. It aims to clarify the origin of the Martian moons and the process of evolution for Mars region and to improve technologies required for future exploration. DLR will contribute to this mission by conducting studies of the rover which is to be equipped on MMX jointly with Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and by providing JAXA with opportunities of experiments using the Drop Tower in Germany. DLR will also support German scientists for their participation in the MMX mission.

MMX is currently in the phase of preparation for developing a spacecraft and the launch is targeted in FY2024.

For more information on MMX, visit: MMX Web Site.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has agreed to cooperate with European Space Agency (ESA) on the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission: XRISM.
Hiroshi Yamakawa, President of JAXA and Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Director General of ESA have signed the agreement in presence of ESA Council Delegates at the European Space Operation Center in Darmstadt, Germany on June 14, 2019.

The XRISM project, kicked off in 2018, is the seventh X-ray astronomy satellite program of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA. It aims at the early recovery of the prime science objective "to solve outstanding astrophysical questions with high resolution X-ray spectroscopy" of ASTRO-H whose operation was ceased in 2016.

Under the agreement, JAXA and ESA have agreed to apply the cooperation developed through ASTRO-H in XRISM. In addition to contributing to the development of one of XRISM's most important instruments, the Soft X-ray Spectrometer, ESA will also support European scientists for their participation in the XRISM project.

XRISM is currently under development and is scheduled to be launched in FY2021.

For more information on XRISM, visit: XRISM Web Site.

The CLASP2 sounding rocket experiment launched on April 11, 2019 at 10:51 a.m. MDT (01:51 a.m. JST on April 12) from the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA. It reached 274 km at maximum altitude and observed the Sun for 6 minutes from above 160 km. After the observations, the instrument parachuted down to the White Sands Desert, and was carried back to the laboratory. All the data stored in the instrument were recovered successfully.

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Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is pleased to announce the opening of the fifth round of KiboCUBE.

Please refer to the following website for further details regarding the applications for the KiboCUBE fifth round ("Announcement of Opportunity"). The application due date is September 30. We look forward to receiving many applicants and contributing to the capacity building of your country!

Application details:
http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/psa/hsti/kibocube/3.2019.html

(Reference 1)
KiboCUBE programme is a collaboration programme between JAXA and UNOOSA to offer developing countries the opportunity to deploy small satellites from the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" on the International Space Station (ISS).

(Reference 2) Results of past selection
A team from the University of Nairobi (Kenya) was granted for the 1st round of KiboCUBE, and the satellite was deployed from Kibo in May, 2018.
A team from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (Guatemala) was granted for the second round of KiboCUBE. A team from Mauritius Research Council (Mauritius) and a team from Surya University (Indonesia) were granted for the third round of KiboCUBE. JAXA and OOSA are currently under selection of the fourth round of KiboCUBE.