JAXA
Overview
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan’s national aerospace and space agency. It was formed on October 1st, 2003, as a merger of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) and National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). JAXA is responsible for researching and developing the technology necessary to launch the ETS Japanese satellites into orbit. JAXA is also involved in advanced missions including the exploration of asteroids and the Moon. [1] The company aims to utilize small, fast missions to circumvent the lag time between interplanetary missions. It also aims to conduct the first ever solar sail flight from Earth to Jupiter in 2020.
JAXA is involved with several FSO related programs, including ground-to-satellite communications and launching of satellites carrying FSO technologies and projects. On April 23, 2020, JAXA and NICT along with Sony Computer Science Laboratories announced that they had successfully established a bidirectional laser communication link between SOLISS on the ISS and a NICT ground station. The link transmitted high-definition image data via Ethernet. [2]