is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese national research organization of astrophysics

Astrophysics

Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...

 using rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

s, astronomical

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 satellites and interplanetary probes. It is a division of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The , or JAXA, is Japan's national aerospace agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on October 1, 2003, as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the...

 (JAXA).

History

The ISAS originates in the Institute of Industrial Science of University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

, where Hideo Itokawa

Hideo Itokawa

was a pioneer of Japanese rocketry and of the Japanese space program. In Japan, he was popularly known as Dr. Rocket, and he has been described in the media as the father of Japanese space development....

 experimented miniature solid-fuel rockets (Pencil Rocket

Pencil Rocket

The Pencil Rocket was developed for the Japanese space agency. A prominent engineer on the project was Hideo Itokawa. The rocket was launched in 1955. The dimensions were 23cm in length by 1.8cm in diameter, weighing 200 grams.-Bibliography:...

 and Baby Rocket) in 1950s. It grew to the Κ (Kappa)

Kappa (rocket)

Kappa is also a number of Japanese sounding rockets, which were built starting from 1956.- Kappa 6 :* pay load: 20 kg* Ceiling: 60 km* Takeoff weight: 270 kg* Diameter: 0,25 m* Length: 5,61 m- Kappa 8 :* pay load: 50 kg...

 sounding rocket

Sounding rocket

A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...

, and used for observations for International Geophysical Year

International Geophysical Year

The International Geophysical Year was an international scientific project that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific interchange between East and West was seriously interrupted...

. By 1960, Κ-8 reached 200 km altitude.

In 1964, the rocket group and Institute of Aeronautics along with scientific ballooning

High altitude balloon

High-altitude balloons are unmanned balloons, usually filled with helium or hydrogen that are released into the stratosphere, generally reaching between ....

 team were merged to form within University of Tokyo. The rocket evolved to L (Lambda)

Lambda (rocket)

Lambda is the name of a series of Japanese rockets. It consisted of the types Lambda 2, LS-A, LSC-3, Lambda 3, Lambda 4 and LS-C.On February 11, 1970 the first Japanese satellite Ōsumi was launched using a Lambda 4 rocket....

 series, and in 1970, L-4S-5 launched Japan's first artificial satellite Ōsumi

Osumi (satellite)

Ōsumi is the name of the first Japanese artificial satellite put into orbit, named after the Ōsumi Province in the southern islands of Japan. It was launched on February 11, 1970 at 04:25 UTC with a Lambda 4S-5 rocket from Uchinoura Space Center by Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science,...

.

Although Lambda rockets were sounding rocket, the next generation M (Mu) rocket

Mu (rocket)

The Mu, also known as M, was a series of Japanese solid-fuelled carrier rockets, which were launched from Uchinoura between 1966 and 2006...

s were intended to be the satellite launch vehicle from start. From 1971, ISAS launched series of scientific satellites to observe ionosphere

Ionosphere

The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere, comprising portions of the mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere, distinguished because it is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important part in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere...

 and magnetosphere

Magnetosphere

A magnetosphere is formed when a stream of charged particles, such as the solar wind, interacts with and is deflected by the intrinsic magnetic field of a planet or similar body. Earth is surrounded by a magnetosphere, as are the other planets with intrinsic magnetic fields: Mercury, Jupiter,...

. Since the launch of Hakucho

Hakucho

Hakucho was Japan's first X-ray astronomy satellite, developed by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science...

 in 1979, ISAS had X-ray astronomy

X-ray astronomy

X-ray astronomy is an observational branch of astronomy which deals with the study of X-ray observation and detection from astronomical objects. X-radiation is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so instruments to detect X-rays must be taken to high altitude by balloons, sounding rockets, and...

 satellites consecutively in orbit, until it was briefly terminated by the launch failure of ASTRO-E

ASTRO-E

Suzaku is a Japanese X-ray astronomy satellite launched on 10 July 2005 aboard the M-V-6 rocket. The project was renamed Suzaku after its successful launch after the mythical Vermilion bird of the South....

.

In 1981, as a part of university system reform, and for the mission expansion, ISAS was spun out from University of Tokyo as an inter-university national research organization, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.

In 2003, three national aerospace organizations including ISAS were merged to form Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The , or JAXA, is Japan's national aerospace agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on October 1, 2003, as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the...

 (JAXA). The English name Institute of Space and Astronautical Science is still used, although the Japanese name was changed to 宇宙科学研究本部, (literally, Space Science Research Division, whereas the previous name's literal translation was Space Science Laboratory). In 2010, the name was changed back to the previous .

List of Satellites by ISAS (before establishment of JAXA)

Launch date	Name before launch	Name after launch	Mission
February 11, 1970		Ōsumi Osumi (satellite) Ōsumi is the name of the first Japanese artificial satellite put into orbit, named after the Ōsumi Province in the southern islands of Japan. It was launched on February 11, 1970 at 04:25 UTC with a Lambda 4S-5 rocket from Uchinoura Space Center by Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science,...	Technology demonstration
February 16, 1971	MS-T1	Tansei	Technology demonstration
September 28, 1971	MS-F2	Shinsei	Ionosphere / cosmic-ray / solar-radio observation
August 19, 1972	REXS	Denpa	Ionosphere / magnetosphere observation
February 16, 1974	MS-T2	Tansei 2	Technology experiment
February 24, 1975	SRATS	Taiyo Taiyo Taiyō is the Japanese word for sun. It can also refer to:* a male Japanese firstname* Taiyō Kea, a Japanese professional wrestler* Taiyo Yakuhin or Taiyo Pharmaceutical Industry, a pharmaceutical product manufacturing company located in Takayama, Gifu, Japan* Taiyō Whales, one of the previous names...	Thermosphere and sun
February 19, 1977	MS-T3	Tansei 3	Technology experiment
February 4, 1978	EXOS-A	Kyokko	Aurora and ionosphere
September 16, 1978	EXOS-B	Jikiken	Magnetosphere and thermosphere observation
February 21, 1979	CORSA-b	Hakucho Hakucho Hakucho was Japan's first X-ray astronomy satellite, developed by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science...	X-ray astronomy
February 17, 1980	MS-T4	Tansei 4	Technology experiment
February 21, 1981	ASTRO-A	Hinotori	Solar X-ray observation
February 20, 1983	ASTRO-B	Tenma Tenma Tenma, known as Astro-B before launch, was Japan's second X-ray astronomy satellite, developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. It was launched on February 20, 1983 using a M-3S-3 rocket as the vehicle....	X-ray astronomy
February 14, 1984	EXOS-C	Ohzora Ohzora Ohzora may refer to:*Ōzora, Hokkaidō, a town in Abashiri District, Abashiri Subprefecture, Hokkaidō, Japan*Ohzora Publishing, a josei manga publisher in Japan*5214 Oozora, an asteroid...	Mesosphere observation
January 8, 1985	MS-T5	Sakigake Sakigake Sakigake , pre-launch codename MS-T5, was Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft, and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the USA or the Soviet Union...	Technology experiment / Comet observation
August 19, 1985	PLANET-A	Suisei Suisei probe Suisei , originally known as Planet-A, was an unmanned space probe developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science ....	Comet observation
August 19, 1987	ASTRO-C	Ginga	X-ray astronomy
February 22, 1989	EXOS-D	Akebono Akebono (satellite) Akebono is a satellite to study aurora and Earth's magnetosphere environment.It was developed by Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and launched by M-3SII rocket on February 22, 1989....	Aurora observation
January 24, 1990	MUSES-A	Hiten Hiten The Hiten Spacecraft , given the English name Celestial Maiden and known before launch as MUSES-A , part of the MUSES Program, was built by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan and launched on January 24, 1990...	Interplanetary technology experiment
August 30, 1991	SOLAR-A	Yohkoh Yohkoh Yohkoh , known before launch as Solar-A, was a Solar observatory spacecraft of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science with United States and United Kingdom collaboration...	Solar X-ray observation (with NASA NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...  / UK)
July 24, 1992	GEOTAIL	GEOTAIL GEOTAIL GEOTAIL is a satellite observing the Earth's magnetosphere. It was developed by ISAS in association with NASA, and launched by a Delta II rocket on July 24, 1992....	Magnetosphere observation (with NASA)
February 20, 1993	ASTRO-D	ASCA Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics ASCA is the fourth cosmic X-ray astronomy mission by Japan's , and the second for which the United States is providing part of the scientific payload. The satellite was successfully launched on February 20, 1993. The first eight months of the ASCA mission were devoted to performance verification...	X-ray astronomy (with NASA)
March 18, 1995	SFU	SFU Space Flyer Unit The was a spacecraft which was launched by Japan on Mar. 18, 1995.- Technical data :The Space Flyer Unit was launched from Tanegashima Space Center from a H-2 vehicle. It was carrying testing materials and research data that held value to NASA. They retrieved the data from the Space Flyer Unit by...	Multi-purpose experiment flyer (with NASDA / NEDO New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization , also known as NEDO, is Japan's largest public management organization promoting research and development as well as deployment of industrial, energy and environmental technologies. In 2003, NEDO was reorganized as an Independent...  / USEF Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer The is a Japanese space agency, which was founded by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1986. Unlike NASDA, ISAS, and NAL, it was not included in the 2003 founded JAXA organization. USEF is run as a Non Profit Organization... )
February 12, 1997	MUSES-B	HALCA HALCA The HALCA , also known for its project name VSOP , or the code name MUSES-B for the second of the Mu Space Engineering Spacecraft series, is a Japanese 8 meter diameter radio telescope satellite which was used for Very Long Baseline Interferometry...	Space VLBI technology development
July 4, 1998	PLANET-B	Nozomi	Mars atmosphere observation
May 9, 2003	MUSES-C	Hayabusa Hayabusa was an unmanned spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis....	Planetary sample return technology development

External links

• http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/index.html
• From Pencil to M-V — History of Rocket Development - Official JAXA YouTube Channel (in Japanese)