Resonac, BEAM and Nippon LEO signed an MOU to manufacture compound semiconductors in low Earth orbit. Why build chips in microgravity, and how Japan's bet compares to the US and China.
Japan's SKYDRIVE eVTOL flew stably at 100 km/h, a speed that sounds modest but marks a key step toward type certification. We unpack why a compact, wingless multirotor is a deliberate bet, and how Japan stacks up against China's already-flying EHang and US rivals Joby and Archer.
The Super-Kamiokande collaboration has caught the first-ever evidence of the diffuse supernova neutrino background, the combined glow of every massive star that has died since the universe began. Here is what it could reveal, and the spoonful of gadolinium that made it possible.
JAXA will launch the Michibiki No. 7 satellite on H3 Rocket No. 9 on August 7. A look at Japan's GPS-independent seven-satellite plan, the ASNAV system that aims to take phone accuracy from 5-10 meters to 1, how it compares with GPS, Galileo and BeiDou, and the satellite Japan just lost.
HOKUSHIN-1, a cubesat from three Japanese universities, was deployed from the ISS on June 19. Why it proves deep-space tech in low orbit first, where failure is cheap.
Since 2016, a Japan-led ALMA team kept breaking distance records for oxygen in the early universe. In 2026 they finally caught the cold neutral gas itself: [O I] 145μm in four galaxies ~13 billion years back. The decade-long quest, and how it complements the Webb-led race.
New image analysis confirms Japan's 228-gram transformable robot SORA-Q (LEV-2) moved about 0.13m and turned 180 degrees on the Moon entirely on its own, earning a Science Robotics cover. Built with help from a toy maker, the palm-sized machine opens a new path for small-scale exploration aimed at caves, steep slopes and, eventually, Mars.
Mitsubishi Electric is building an orbital transfer vehicle under Japan's Space Strategy Fund. We map the race: America's speed-and-price game led by Impulse Space, China's dual-use Shijian maneuvers, and Japan's unconventional bet on the docking skills it honed resupplying the ISS.
A Tohoku University team grew rice to the heading stage in soil mimicking the Moon's surface, using fertilizer made from nothing but air and electricity via plasma. The unlikely inspiration? Gundam's beam saber. As NASA pushes toward a lunar base, it could become foundational tech for growing food in space.
Kyoto and Hiroshima University researchers found that grains Hayabusa2 brought back from asteroid Ryugu begin altering within weeks on Earth. Here is how the decay starts with an iron sulfide, what it means for Bennu and Phobos samples, and how Japan is reacting.
JAXA's H3 rocket No. 6 reached orbit on June 12, 2026, debuting the booster-less, lowest-cost Type 30 and resuming flights after a six-month grounding. But an object seen falling near the engines is now under investigation.