Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Flight record

These are launches under JAXA’s own name in The Space Devs’ Launch Library. They don’t count missions or payloads. A spacecraft that flew on someone else’s rocket counts for the operator that flew it.

Operator or customer

An operator owns the rocket and runs the count, and the launch schedule filters by operator. A customer pays for the mission, supplies the payload and buys the ride. Some organisations are both. Below, JAXA is counted in whichever role the current schedule gives it.

No scheduled flight names JAXA with someone else flying it.

How we count it: a scheduled launch counts as a customer flight when this organisation’s name or abbreviation is in the launch name, mission name or programme, and someone else is flying it. We don’t search mission descriptions, and we only see the schedule as far as it goes, which is 2039-12-31 00:00:00Z. So treat both counts as a minimum.

About JAXA

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan's national aero-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 the launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions, such as asteroid exploration and possible manned exploration of the Moon. JAXA launch their Epsilon vehicle from the Uchinoura Space Center and their H-II vehicles from the Tanegashima Space Center.

Upcoming launches

• Epsilon S | JV-LOTUSat-1

  Epsilon S · Uchinoura Space Center, Japan

  2027

  TBDNET YEAR ONLYOrbit: SSOVehicle file

• Epsilon S | SOLAR-C

  Epsilon S · Uchinoura Space Center, Japan

  NOV 2028

  TBDNET ±1 MONTHOrbit: SSOVehicle file

The label on each flight says how exact its launch time is. If the date is only known to the month, you’ll see the month and no countdown. A weather go-probability only shows when Launch Library has one for that flight. EveryLaunch doesn’t work it out.

JAXA in the archive

From NASA's public image library and Wikimedia Commons. Each photo shows the credit its licence asks for and links back to where it came from.

Common questions

How many launches has Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flown?

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has flown 37 launches under its own name. 33 succeeded and 4 failed. That counts launches it flew itself, not missions or payloads it contributed to.

What is Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's success rate?

89.2%. That's 33 successful flights out of 37 attempts. Its last 2 launches in a row have succeeded.

When is Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's next launch?

Epsilon S | JV-LOTUSat-1, set for 2027 from Mu Center. Launch Library files only the year, so the date is a placeholder. Launch times are no-earlier-than targets and can move.

Does Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency fly its own rockets, or buy launches from another operator?

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has flown 37 launches under its own name. It's the operator on 2 scheduled flights. An operator owns the rocket and runs the count. A customer pays for the mission, supplies the payload and buys the ride. The operator filter on the launch schedule only lists operators, so a well-known agency can own a mission and still not show up there.

Where is Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency based?

Japan. Launch Library lists it as a government operator, founded in 2003.