page_title: JAXA
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: JAXA / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Kibō (Hoffnung) Aufbau.日本語: きぼう 日本実験棟Русский: Кибо (надежда) модуль МКСEspañol: El módulo de experimentación japonés. Kibō (esperanza)Tiếng Việt: Kibō (Hy vọng)English: Kibō (Hope) Layout including labels for all 6 components as defined by JAXA, from previous version of this image from NASA PD.한국어: 키보 일본 실험 모듈Bahasa Indonesia: Modul eksperimen Jepang中文: 日本實驗艙 希望
context_page_description: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is the Japanese national aerospace and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions such as asteroid exploration and possible human exploration of the Moon. Its motto is One JAXA and its corporate slogan is Explore to Realize.
context_section_description: On 1 October 2003, three organisations were merged to form the new JAXA: Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL), and National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). JAXA was formed as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC).
  Before the merger, ISAS was responsible for space and planetary research, while NAL was focused on aviation research. NASDA, which was founded on 1 October 1969, had developed rockets, satellites, and also built the Japanese Experiment Module. The old NASDA headquarters were located at the current site of the Tanegashima Space Center, on Tanegashima Island, 115 kilometers south of Kyūshū. NASDA also trained the Japanese astronauts who flew with the US Space Shuttles.
  The Basic Space Law was passed in 2008, and the jurisdictional authority of JAXA moved from MEXT to the Strategic Headquarters for Space Development (SHSD) in the Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. In 2016, the National Space Policy Secretariat (NSPS) was set up the Cabinet.
  Planning interplanetary research missions can take up to seven years, such as the ASTRO-E. Due to the lag time between these interplanetary events and mission planning time, opportunities to gain new knowledge about the cosmos might be lost. To prevent this, JAXA plans on using smaller, faster missions from 2010 onward.
  In 2012, new legislation extended JAXA's remit from peaceful purposes only to include some military space development, such as missile early warning systems. Political control of JAXA passed from MEXT to the Prime Minister's Cabinet Office through a new Space Strategy Office.
caption: JAXA Kibo, the largest module of the ISS.
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