August 28, 2023 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

 JAXA Astronaut FURUKAWA Satoshi who arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) by the Crew Dragon Spacecraft (Crew-7), has begun his long-duration stay as the 69^th and 70^th expedition crew member. Docking to the ISS and Opening Hatch schedules are as follows:

 Today, the Crew Dragon Spacecraft (Crew-7) launched at 16:27 (JST) on August 26, 2023 from Kennedy Space Center successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) at 22:16 on August 27, and Astronaut FURUKAWA Satoshi has started a long-duration stay at the ISS.

 Under the mission theme of "Seeking Solutions Only Available from Space”, Dr. Furukawa will carry out a variety of missions during his long stay, ranging from life, material and physical sciences to technological demonstrations for future lunar exploration and the post-ISS era as well as to education-and-SDGs-related space experiments, by utilizing the environment unavailable outside of the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” on the ISS in collaboration with astronauts from overseas.

 This will be Dr. Furukawa’s second space flight. I believe that his expertise will contribute to his international crews onboard Crew-7 as well as ground team and ensure the success of the mission through their concerted efforts.

 In addition, I think that the ISS long-duration mission of Japanese astronauts, including Dr. Furukawa, symbolizes the close ties and trust between Japan and the international partners. I would like to extend my gratitude to NASA, other relevant national and international organizations, as well as to the general public for their cooperation and support to make this happen.

 With the decision to extend the ISS participations until 2030, JAXA continues to work hard to achieve further outcomes of Kibo utilization. Your continuous support would be highly appreciated. Arigatou.