Japan: JAXA Successfully Launches Next-Generation H3 Rocket Into Space 2

JAXA (The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) launched its new flagship H3 rocket into space in a second attempt on Saturday, February 17, and announced that it confirmed the rocket has reached orbit as planned. The H3 lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in the southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima at 9:22 a.m., JST.

Japanese entrepreneur to join Russia space agency's training program

Japanese entrepreneur to join Russia space agency's training program

TOKYO, Japan - Satoshi Takamatsu (R), 51, president of Space Travel, a Japanese startup firm providing space travel services, shakes hands with Toyohiro Akiyama, a journalist known as the first Japanese to have flown in space, during a press conference in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 2015, held to announce that Takamatsu will join a space flight training program provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency after being accepted as a standby for a visit to the International Space Station.

Japanese entrepreneur to join Russia space agency's training program

Japanese entrepreneur to join Russia space agency's training program

TOKYO, Japan - Satoshi Takamatsu, 51, president of Space Travel, a Japanese startup firm providing space travel services, speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 2015, after Space Adventures Ltd., a Virginia-based operator of human space missions, announced that Takamatsu will join a space flight training program provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency after being accepted as a standby for a visit to the International Space Station.

Future astronaut Takamatsu eyes ISS mission around 2017-2019

Future astronaut Takamatsu eyes ISS mission around 2017-2019

Japanese entrepreneur Satoshi Takamatsu speaks at a press conference in Moscow on June 22, 2015, about training he is undergoing in Russia to be an astronaut staying on the International Space Station. He said he aims to visit the ISS around 2017-2019, adding he sealed a deal with Space Adventures Ltd. of the United States on a future orbital space mission. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Japanese entrepreneur to join Russia space agency's training program

Japanese entrepreneur to join Russia space agency's training program

TOKYO, Japan - Satoshi Takamatsu, 51, president of Space Travel, a Japanese startup firm providing space travel services, speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 2015, after Space Adventures Ltd., a Virginia-based operator of human space missions, announced that Takamatsu will join a space flight training program provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency after being accepted as a standby for a visit to the International Space Station. (Kyodo)

Japanese entrepreneur to join Russia space agency's training program

Japanese entrepreneur to join Russia space agency's training program

TOKYO, Japan - Satoshi Takamatsu (R), 51, president of Space Travel, a Japanese startup firm providing space travel services, shakes hands with Toyohiro Akiyama, a journalist known as the first Japanese to have flown in space, during a press conference in Tokyo on Jan. 7, 2015, held to announce that Takamatsu will join a space flight training program provided by the Russian Federal Space Agency after being accepted as a standby for a visit to the International Space Station. (Kyodo)