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July 04, 2025
 

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ROCKETS

Japan’s flagship H2A rocket lifts off for the final time early Sunday from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 29, 2025
Japan’s H2A rocket retired after successful final launch
The rocket’s 50th and final mission carried the GOSAT-GW, a government-developed hybrid environmental observation satellite.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Axiom-4 crew of four astronauts lifts off from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A on a mission to the International Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday.
WORLD
Jun 26, 2025
India, Poland and Hungary astronauts launch for first space station mission
The four-member crew was carried aloft on a towering SpaceX launch vehicle consisting of a Crew Dragon capsule perched atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket.
Flames rise as a SpaceX rocket explodes in Brownsville, Texas, on Wednesday, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025
SpaceX Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk's Mars mission
The company attributed the explosion to a "major anomaly" and said all personnel were safe.
Honda's experimental reusable rocket during a launching and landing test
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2025
Honda hails successful test of reusable rocket
Japan's second-biggest carmaker has successfully tested an experimental reusable rocket as it seeks to expand into the space sector.
SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its Super Heavy booster is launched on its ninth test at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 28, 2025
SpaceX's Starship spins out of control
SpaceX's Starship rocket roared into space from Texas on Tuesday but spun out of control about halfway through its flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals, bringing fresh engineering hurdles to CEO Elon Musk's increasingly turbulent Mars rocket program.
Innovative Space Carrier CEO Kojiro Hatada poses with a model of the planned spaceplane ASCA 3 at JFE Engineering’s factory in Yokohama on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025
Japanese reusable rocket startup ISC eyes U.S. test launch in December
Innovative Space Carrier said its ASCA 1.0 reusable launcher will conduct a 100-meter flight and landing test.
The 50th two-stage H-2A rocket is stored at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Tobishima plant in Aichi Prefecture.
JAPAN
Apr 24, 2025
Final H-IIA rocket to be launched in June
After the launch, the H-IIA rocket series will be retired and replaced by the more advanced H3 series.
Under the Economic Security Promotion Act, the government implements a range of measures to secure vital supply chains, from providing subsidies and low-interest loans to coordinating regulations, stockpiling essential goods and protecting advanced technologies.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2025
METI may list undersea cables and satellites as critical for economic security
The move comes amid an increasingly uncertain geo-economic climate, with global powers becoming more protectionist.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is launched at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 1, 2025
SpaceX eyes Starlink hub with multiple ground stations in Vietnam, sources say
The move would herald its launch in the country and would help authorities police internet traffic.
A model of the Isar Aerospace mini-rocket
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 30, 2025
German startup's space rocket explodes after takeoff from Norway
The uncrewed Spectrum rocket was billed as the first attempt at an orbital flight to originate from Europe, where several nations have said they want a share of a growing market.
The Crew Dragon capsule containing Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams and two other astronauts descends by parachute before their splashdown off the coast of Florida, on March 18 in a still image from video.
WORLD
Mar 19, 2025
NASA astronauts 'Butch and Suni' return to Earth after drawn-out mission in space
Their return ends a mission fraught with uncertainty and technical troubles that turned into a global spectacle.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Dragon spacecraft launches from NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov onboard, on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 17, 2025
Stranded U.S. astronauts to return to Earth on Tuesday
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been on the ISS since June after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing was deemed unfit to fly them back to Earth.
SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft atop it's super heavy booster is launched on its eighth test at the company's Boca Chica launch pad in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD
Mar 9, 2025
SpaceX scrubs launch of two NASA satellite missions
One rocket’s chief passenger was SPHEREx, a space telescope that will take images of the entire sky in more than a 100 colors that are invisible to the human eye.
Debris streaking through the sky after SpaceX's Starship spacecraft tumbled and exploded in space, in Big Sampson Kay, The Bahamas, Thursday, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video.
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2025
SpaceX's Starship explodes in space and rains debris over Caribbean
The failure of the eighth Starship test comes just over a month after the seventh also ended in an explosion.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace, speaks during a news conference in September 2024.
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2025
Japan startup targets June 6 moon landing
Ispace hopes to have its own moment of glory, after the unsalvageable "hard landing" of its initial attempt in 2023.
This still image taken from a Feb. 24 video released by Firefly Aerospace shows Firefly's Blue Ghost lander on its third lunar orbit, showing the far side of the moon.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 2, 2025
In first, private U.S. spaceship lands upright on moon
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 touched down shortly after 3:34 am U.S. Eastern Time on the moon's northeastern near side.
Elon Musk's Starlink is facing challenges from a Chinese state-backed rival and another service financed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 24, 2025
Musk's Starlink races with Chinese rivals to dominate satellite internet
China's rush to occupy more of lower-Earth orbit makes Western policymakers worry it could extend the reach of Beijing's internet censorship regime.
Researchers work around Chang'e-5 lunar return capsule carrying moon samples next to a Chinese national flag, after it landed in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on Dec. 17, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025
China builds space alliances in Africa as Trump cuts foreign aid
Beijing has access to data and images collected from the space technology, and Chinese personnel maintain a long-term presence in the facilities it builds in Africa.
An H-3 rocket, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima on Feb. 17, 2024.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 2, 2025
Fifth H-3 rocket with Michibiki No. 6 satellite successfully launched
The rocket blasted off at 5:30 p.m. from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The satellite was placed into its target orbit.
SpaceX's Starship rocket after launching from South Padre Island near Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 17, 2025
SpaceX's Starship breaks up in space, forcing flights to divert
Video footage showed orange balls of light streaking across the sky over the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince, leaving trails of smoke behind.
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Onosato's yokozuna promotion causes rare quirk in new sumo rankings
Newly promoted yokozuna Onosato holds a copy of the latest banzuke ranking in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, on Monday.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Over 900 earthquakes strike Tokara islands in space of two weeks
A screenshot shows many quakes occurring in the Tokara islands over the past 30 days, in this image taken from the U.S. Geological Survey website.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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