Skip to content
Your Guide to Space

Space Now

JAXA and ESA cooperate on planetary defense and RAMSES mission

This announcement marks a shift from general dialogue on collaboration to defined agreements directly linked to the upcoming Apophis encounter.

Agency statementEmerginghigh confidence
ESASpace Now

The story so far

  1. July 6: Nothing newer has displaced it as a worthwhile secondary story, but it is now clearly context rather than today's lead.
  2. July 10: Nothing new today displaced its importance, but fresher launch and test updates moved it down the order.
  3. July 10: Nothing new landed today; fresher launch and test developments simply pushed it down the stack.
  4. July 11: This development transitions from previous discussions on broad cooperation in planetary defense to actionable frameworks linked directly to the upcoming Apophis encounter.
  5. July 11: The discourse evolved from vague cooperation discussions to actionable frameworks that focus on the approaching mission.

Interpretation

Why this matters

This transition indicates both agencies' serious intentions to enhance their capacities for planetary defense.

Known facts

  • JAXA published this update on July 3, 2026.
  •  On May 7, at the Embassy of Italy in Berlin, YAMAKAWA Hiroshi, President of the Japan Aerospa
  • The source is included in today's public Space Now source list.

Unknowns

  • Whether follow-up public updates change the scope, timing, or consequence of this item.

Source status

What the sources actually say

Each claim is kept next to its source so the story never overstates what official evidence can actually prove.

Agency statement

Fresh public update

 On May 7, at the Embassy of Italy in Berlin, YAMAKAWA Hiroshi, President of the Japan Aerospa

Agency statement

JAXA

May 8, 2026 (JST) Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency On May 7, at the Embassy of Italy in Berlin, YAMAKAWA Hiroshi, President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) with Dr. Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), to strengthen and advance cooperation between JAXA and ESA in the field of planetary defence. At the same time, under this MOC, the two agencies signed a cooperation agreement for the RAMSES mission.

Open source

Timeline

How the story has developed

A running record of what changed, when, and why. Editorial review Jul 11, 2026.

  1. July 3: This fresh public source was promoted into Space Now because it adds a non-launch development to the current briefing.
  2. July 3: A new public source highlights the importance of the signed Memorandum of Cooperation that enhances future mission collaboration.
  3. July 4: The public picture sharpened from broad cooperation talk to a named framework linked directly to RAMSES and Apophis.
  4. July 4: The story moved from general cooperation language to a public, mission-linked agreement explicitly naming RAMSES and Apophis.
  5. July 4: The story advanced from broad agency cooperation talk to a public, mission-linked agreement that explicitly names RAMSES and Apophis.
  6. July 5: This remains an important secondary story, but it no longer outranks the fresher Starship developments in today's public picture.
  7. July 6: Nothing newer has displaced it as a worthwhile secondary story, but it is now clearly context rather than today's lead.
  8. July 10: Nothing new today displaced its importance, but fresher launch and test updates moved it down the order.
  9. July 10: Nothing new landed today; fresher launch and test developments simply pushed it down the stack.
  10. July 11: This development transitions from previous discussions on broad cooperation in planetary defense to actionable frameworks linked directly to the upcoming Apophis encounter.
  11. July 11: The discourse evolved from vague cooperation discussions to actionable frameworks that focus on the approaching mission.

Corrections

  1. No corrections recorded.

No separate Starman's Note is needed yet.