The Japanese national space agency formed in October 2003 from the merger of three previous organizations: the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), which was devoted to space and planetary research; the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL), which focused on aviation research and development; and the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), which was responsible for the development of launch vehicles, satellites and Japanese contributions to the International Space Station.
In 2015, JAXA became a National Research and Development Agency. As of the end of 2017, JAXA has four operating Earth-observing satellites, three communications satellites, five astronomical space observatories (including Arase and Hisaki), and three lunar and planetary spacecraft: Akatsuki, Ikaros, and Hayabusa2.