By capitalizing on the space environment that is quite different from that of the Earth, JAXA conducts various research including R&D for new materials and for medical innovation.

At the International Space Station (ISS) flying 400 kilometers above the Earth, astronauts reside and perform various scientific experiments. The Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” has a special feature of the Exposed Facility, where an experiment can be conducted outside the ISS (= an experiment instrument is exposed to the space environment), in addition to the inside facility. No other countries have such an outside facility.

To date, Japan has produced more than ten astronauts, who have achieved numerous accomplishments.
There are currently six active astronauts affiliated with JAXA.

JAXA is working to promote the private sector's utilization of “Kibo” and as the first step, Space BD Inc. and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. were selected from the private sector to provide small satellite deployment services from Kibo (2018). Through this, 70% of the available deployment capabilities were transferred to these companies. As the second step, Space BD was selected from among private companies to provide services using IVA-replaceable Small Exposed Experiment Platform (i-SEEP), one of the external experimental equipment of “Kibo” (2019). JAXA will continue to encourage private companies to come up with unique ideas that use Kibo to provide wide-reaching services both in and outside of Japan, thereby further increasing private sector's utilization of “Kibo” and expanding the demand for its usage.

Picking up where the KOUNOTORI (HTV) left off is the HTV-X, the latest model of transfer vehicles for transporting supplies into space. The vehicle will not only be used to deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), but also provide a platform for space experimentation and open the door to future spaceflight technologies.