Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency: Quick Facts

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Oct. 25, 2026

News •

Japan launches uncrewed space mission to become first to gather samples from Mars' moon Phobos • Oct. 19, 2026, 11:36 PM ET (Jerusalem Post)

NASA to Help Unlock Mysteries of Mars’ Moons in Upcoming Mission • Oct. 15, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (NASA Science (.gov))

Facts

Also Known As	JAXA • Uchū Kōkū Kenkyū Kaihatsu Kikō
Date	2003 - present
Headquarters	Tokyo
Areas Of Involvement	space exploration • aviation
Related People	Tachikawa Keiji

Photos

Japan's lunar probe SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon)

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Topics

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NASA's Reduced Gravity Program provides the unique weightless or zero-G environment of space flight for testing and training of human and hardware reactions. NASA used the turbojet KC-135A to run these parabolic flights from 1963 to 2004.

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