Call for Team Participation in the 7th Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC)

Kibo Utilization Office for Asia (KUOA)
Experiment at Kibo

We are pleased to announce that JAXA will hold the 7^th Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC) in 2026~2027 and has started accepting applications for participating teams.

Kibo-RPC is a collaborative activity between JAXA and NASA under the Japan-US Open Platform Partnership Program (JP-US OP3) framework. This activity is to expand the use of Kibo in the Asia-Pacific region and to contribute to the SDGs. It provides educational opportunities for students to learn about robotics and computer programing in space.

Outline of Kibo-RPC

Kibo-RPC is a robot programming competition. It is held on “Kibo”, the Japanese Experiment Module of the International Space Station (ISS) using its internal robot^*1. The competition will have multiple challenges and will use Kibo as the game space. Participants must build codes^*2 to run the robot in the ISS and compete for time and the ability to respond to challenges while completing assigned tasks.

At the 7th Kibo-RPC, participants will operate JAXA’s Int-Ball 2 for the first time using the programs they have created.

At last year’s sixth competition, a record number of 3,082 participants in 738 teams from 13 countries/regions applied.

Results of the 1st Kibo-RPC Final Round

Results of the 2nd Kibo-RPC Final Round

Results of the 3rd Kibo-RPC Final Round

Results of the 4th Kibo-RPC Final Round

Results of the 5th Kibo-RPC Final Round

Results of the 7th Kibo-RPC Final Round

*1 An autonomous flying robot intended to support astronauts (taking photos, etc.)
*2 Participants shall build codes to move the free-flying robot autonomously using the virtual simulator provided by JAXA and NASA.

Outline of the 7^th Kibo-RPC

Call for applications

Students up to Graduate level from Kibo-RPC participating countries/regions

Application Period

July 6th, 2026 – September 30th, 2026 23:59 (JST)

Game Story (this work is fiction)

A slight drop in air pressure has been detected aboard the ISS, triggering an investigation using the inspection robot Int-Ball 2.
Navigate suspected leak locations, collect observation data with precise positioning and orientation, and analyze the limited information to uncover the source of the unseen anomaly.

Schedule

October 2026: JAXA simulation environment open (You may start programming after the enrollment)
January – Feburary 2027: Preliminary Round for each country/region (Using the JAXA simulation environment)
April - June 2027: Final Round Event (Using the real Int-Ball 2 in the ISS “Kibo” environment)

Kibo-RPC Guidance Session (English)　

Date: July 16th, 2026 18:00-19:00 (JST)
Held with the Zoom conference system
* Please refer to the special website for details on how to join in the Guidance Session.

Participation requirements and details

Please refer to the 7^th Kibo-RPC Official Website (https://jaxa.krpc.jp) to find your local organizers for details. Each participating country/region may have additional eligibility and requirements.