J-CUBE Program Pre-announcement

JAXA and the University Space Engineering Consortium (UNISEC) will initiate the application for J-CUBE program at the end of October. This program will provide opportunities to release CubeSats from the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module on the International Space Station. J-CUBE has two application categories: the International Collaboration Mission, which will promote capacity-building in space technology for the purpose of international contributions; and the Domestic Advanced Mission, which will use the opportunity to challenge and verify advanced technology. This program aims to nurture sustainable, contributing the capacity-building in the space filed through the development and operation for CubeSats and expand the utilization of Kibo. This program will also contribute to the SDGs.

Satellite sizes available for release: 1–3U*
(*10cm(W)×10cm(D), Height: 1U: 10cm, 2U: 20cm, 3U: 30cm)

Utilization type: Fee-based

Capacity: 12U (a maximum of 6 satellites) per year

• Has a collaborative system between an overseas entity and Japanese higher education institutions (ex. university, technical college and high school).
• Has the ability to further the purpose of the mission, including fostering human resources for international contributions and having a specific, sustainable vision of the future, such as progressive industry growth and foundation buildings for space development for the applicable country.

• In order to strengthen the technology development capabilities of domestic higher education institutions, the applicant has a collaborative development system among multiple domestic higher education institutions.
• The mission includes innovative and ambitious development of satellite technology or verification of a new technology element using CubeSats.

We will publish the details of how to apply on the UNISEC website.

• Information on the release mechanism of CubeSats (JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deplyer: J-SSOD)
• History of release achievements

We plan to publish “KiboCUBE Academy,” an online educational program related to the development of CubeSats. We will contribute to the vast improvement of competency of developing countries through lectures and interactive sessions on technologies and the development process of CubeSats.