NYK Line, Japan's largest shipping company, is working with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to catch reusable rocket boosters on a ship at sea. The idea began in an in-house training program, became the first shipping-company project selected for JAXA's Space Strategy Fund, and now faces a question NYK's own engineers raise: will anyone launch often enough to make it pay?
Japan, the UK and Italy's GCAP fighter demonstrator is 75% built, and reporters have finally seen it. A third longer than a Typhoon, with weapons bays reportedly double the F-35's capacity, its sheer size reveals the program's priorities: range and payload for the Pacific. How it compares to America's F-47 and Europe's collapsed FCAS.
After a year of budget drama, Britain published its delayed Defence Investment Plan on June 30, committing about 8.6 billion pounds to the GCAP sixth-generation fighter and extending the Japan-UK-Italy contract to end-2027. Why Japan was the anxious partner, why an outgoing prime minister signed it, and what the bet on building a fighter without America really means.
Japan, the UK, and Italy are building the GCAP sixth-gen fighter, but lead partner Britain is in political and fiscal chaos after PM Starmer's resignation, with the contract keeping it alive expiring June 30. Why Tokyo is the anxious one, plus the queue of countries like Canada lining up to join.
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.