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July 01, 2026
 

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SATELLITES

The government plans to invest ¥150 billion in Rakuten Mobile in a push to develop a homegrown satellite communication system and reduce reliance on firms such as Starlink.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2026
Japan to invest ¥150 billion in Rakuten’s domestic satellite project
The investment is part of a push to develop a homegrown satellite network and to reduce Starlink’s dominance in the field.
H3 Launch Vehicle No. 6 lifts off from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Friday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 12, 2026
Japan successfully launches H3 rocket
The successful launch is an important comeback for Japan as it seeks to restore confidence in the H3 series and demonstrate the rocket can support a wider range of missions.
A person watched the Falcon 9 carrying Starlink satellites streaks across the sky in a SpaceX launch as viewed from Venice Beach in Los Angeles on April 6.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 27, 2026
Pentagon spars with SpaceX over Starlink price hike during Iran war
The disagreement over Starlink’s use on suicide drones is part of increasing tensions between SpaceX and the Pentagon over Starlink pricing in recent months.
Ambitious plans for space-based solar power face steep costs and engineering hurdles, making them far less practical than rapidly advancing terrestrial renewables.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2026
Solar in space is a solution in search of a problem
The thinking behind space solar makes some sense: The sun doesn’t always shine on Earth, which means solar panels on the ground aren’t always gathering energy.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency President Hiroshi Yamakawa speaks at a press briefing in Tokyo in May last year.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 24, 2026
Japan’s space agency to launch H3 rocket on June 10
It will be JAXA’s first launch attempt of the H3 rocket since a failed effort last December.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaks at a news conference following the first launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2018.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 21, 2026
Musk’s SpaceX tries to woo Wall Street with analyst meetings this week, sources say
The company is looking to raise $75 billion, in what would be the world’s ​biggest-ever initial public offering, with executives targeting a late June trading debut.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites streaks across the sky during a launch in California, as seen from Mexicali, Mexico, on April 6.
WORLD
Apr 18, 2026
Starlink outage hit drone tests, exposing Pentagon’s growing reliance on SpaceX
SpaceX is indispensable to ​the U.S. government, with its array of technologies spanning satellite communications to space launches and military AI.
The Zhuque-3 rocket by China’s private rocket firm LandSpace, takes off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Dec. 3, 2025.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 15, 2026
Iran used Chinese spy satellite to target U.S. bases
The satellite, built and launched by Chinese company Earth Eye, was acquired by the Iran’s forces ‌after it ‌was launched into space from China, a Financial Times report said.
Kairos No. 3 failed after lifting off from Spaceport Kii in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 5, 2026
Space One’s Kairos rocket terminated moments after launch
The decision puts another dent in the firm’s bid to be the first private Japanese company to place satellites in orbit with a domestically developed rocket.
People who came to watch the launch of Space One's Kairos rocket in Nachikatsuura, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2026
Space One cancels rocket launch after safety system activates
The Tokyo-based startup had already put off the launches scheduled for Feb. 25 and Sunday due to weather conditions.
Space One's Kairos rocket
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 1, 2026
Third time still not a charm: Space One cancels rocket launch
This is the second time the 18-meter rocket was canceled in the past week, after Wednesday’s attempt was also postponed due to the weather.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off carrying Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 14, 2025.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 15, 2026
Vietnam licenses Musk’s satellite internet firm Starlink
Nearly 80% of Vietnam’s around 100 million people are internet users but gaps in service remain in rural and mountainous areas.
An artist's impression of the NASA Magellan spacecraft making radar observations of Venus, with the data from it indicating the presence of a subsurface lava tube in this handout image released on Monday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 10, 2026
Radar data shows cavernous underground lava tube on Venus
Researchers said radar data gathered on Venus was consistent with a geological feature called a lava tube found in some volcanic locations on Earth and also on the moon.
Indian Border Security Force soldiers ride their camels during a rehearsal for the upcoming Republic Day parade in New Delhi on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 21, 2026
India beefing up space-based surveillance after border conflict
The move comes after New Delhi had encountered surveillance blind spots during a conflict last year with neighbor Pakistan.
While the H3 was able to lift off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 10:51 a.m., the second-stage rocket engine did not start properly and stopped burning earlier than scheduled.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 22, 2025
JAXA fails in third attempt to put Michibiki No. 5 satellite into orbit
The H3 rocket that carried the satellite was able to lift off, but its second-stage rocket engine did not start properly and stopped burning prematurely.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on Wednesday canceled the launch of its eighth H3 rocket and said that at this point, it is not possible to say when it will be rescheduled.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2025
JAXA calls off launch of eighth H3 rocket due to emergency shutdown
This is the second time that the launch of the rocket carrying the Michibiki No. 5 satellite has not gone according to plan.
Satellites photographed from the International Space Station. Decommissioned satellites are adding to hazardous orbital debris, but a Japanese company called Kami Shoji is aiming to tackle the problem with a wood-derived material called Amorcell, engineered to help satellites burn up completely in the atmosphere.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Nov 6, 2025
Japanese firm offers wood-derived material to help reduce space debris
An estimated 28,000 pieces of space debris orbited Earth in 2024, or about 80% more than in 2009, according to NASA, increasing the risk of collisions.
An observatory at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The U.S. Space Force is close to fielding two new weapons designed to jam Chinese and Russian satellites.
WORLD
Nov 5, 2025
U.S. Space Force develops new weapons to jam Chinese satellites
The new systems are intended to counter what U.S. military officials are saying is a growing Chinese space-based threat against U.S. forces.
JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said they will launch a Michibiki positioning satellite aboard on H3 rocket on Dec. 7 from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
JAPAN
Oct 8, 2025
Japan to launch another positioning satellite on Dec. 7
The launch is set to occur between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk II lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, on July 30.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 23, 2025
India plans ‘bodyguard’ satellites after orbital near miss
India is developing a plan to improve its ability to protect satellites from attacks after a near miss in orbit by other spacecraft.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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