WAKATA Koichi

Born in Saitama, Japan.

Received Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering in 1987, M.S. in Applied Mechanics in 1989, and Doctorate in Aerospace Engineering in 2004, all from Kyushu University.

Joined Japan Airlines and served as an aircraft structural engineer at the Narita Maintenance Center as well as in the Systems Engineering Office.

Selected as an astronaut candidate by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA, currently Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in preparation for assembly and operation of Kibo, the Japanese Experiment Module of the International Space Station (ISS). In August, commenced training in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s 14th astronaut class.

Qualified as a Mission Specialist for Space Shuttle missions.
Technical assignments at the NASA Astronaut Office to date include Space Shuttle flight software verification, development of Space Shuttle payloads, robotics development and operational support, development and operational support for Extravehicular Activities (EVAs), development of Kibo, development of the on-orbit inspection systems of the Thermal Protection System as part of the Space Shuttle's return to flight activities, ISS operations support, development of ISS visiting vehicles, Capcom, and development of ISS Payloads.

Became the first Japanese Mission Specialist on STS-72.
Performed robotics operations for the retrieval of Japan’s Space Flyer Unit satellite (launched in March 1995 on H-II rocket), the deployment and retrieval of the NASA OAST Flyer satellite, and to support EVAs.

Supported NASDA as Assistant Payload Operations Director for the Manipulator Flight Demonstration, a robotic arm experiment for Kibo, during the STS-85 mission.

Operated the robotics system on NASDA's Engineering Test Satellite VII (KIKU-7) in tele-operation robotics experiments.

Became the first Japanese astronaut to work on the ISS assembly on STS-92, responsible for the robotics operations to install the Z-1 Truss and Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 to the ISS, as well as supporting the spacewalks.

Qualified as a NASA instructor astronaut for robotics.
Also qualified as an instructor astronaut for EVAs in July 2008, and for CapCom in August 2015.

Served as Commander of the 10th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission, an undersea expedition at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aquarius habitat.

Completed flight engineer training for the Russian Soyuz TMA spacecraft.

Served as a Mission Specialist on STS-119, installing the S6 Truss on the ISS and operating ISS robotics to support EVAs.

Flew as the first Japanese resident ISS crew member and served as a Flight Engineer and the JAXA Science Officer on the crews of Expeditions 18, 19 and 20, as well as a Mission Specialist on STS-119 and STS-127 (2J/A). Duties during the four-and-half month flight included the installation of the S6 Truss, the final assembly of Kibo, a variety of experiment operation in science, engineering, art, and education, as well as ISS systems operations and maintenance. Also operated all of the current human space robotics systems - Canadarm on the Shuttle, Canadarm2, Dextre, and Kibo's robotic arm on the ISS.
Became the first Japanese astronaut to fly aboard a Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft in orbit.

Became the first Japanese person to serve as the Chief of the Space Station Operations Branch of NASA's Astronaut Office.

Served as the Chief of the JAXA Astronaut Group.

Spent 188 days in space as a crew member aboard ISS Expeditions 38 and 39. After serving as a flight engineer aboard Soyuz TMA-11M and Expedition 38, served as the first Japanese Commander of the ISS for Expedition 39. Holds the record for the most time spent in space by a Japanese person with a total of 347 days, eight hours and 33 minutes spanning four space flights, as of May, 2014.

Supported the rendezvous, capture, and release operations of the “KOUNOTORI5 (HTV5)” spacecraft as the lead CapCom at Mission Control in Houston.

Became the world’s first astronaut to become an ISS Program Manager with appointment as the JAXA ISS Program Manager. Served concurrently as the head of the JEM Mission Operations and Integration Center and as an astronaut.

Served as Vice President of JAXA (in charge of the Human Space Technology Directorate, the Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center, and JAXA Space Exploration Center (JSEC)) as well as an astronaut.

Assigned as JAXA Senior Advisor and Astronaut.

Assigned to an ISS Expedition scheduled in 2022.

He has been serving on an ISS Expedition as a crew member since October, 2022.