{"id":215656,"date":"2025-10-21T14:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T14:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/215656\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T14:33:08","slug":"youre-free-tiny-japanese-satellites-escape-doomed-space-station-years-ahead-of-its-fiery-death-photo-of-the-day-for-oct-21-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/215656\/","title":{"rendered":"‘You’re free!’ Tiny Japanese satellites escape doomed space station years ahead of its fiery death photo of the day for Oct. 21, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

In its efforts to broaden global access to space, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA<\/a>) recently launched three cubesats<\/a> from the Kibo module of the International Space Station <\/a>(ISS). YOTSUBA-KULOVER, e-kagaku-1 and BOTAN, according to JAXA’s press release. <\/a><\/p>\n

What is it?<\/p>\n

Cubesats, compact spacecraft usually no bigger than a shoebox, have helped transform the landscape of space research in the past 20 years. Originally invented in 1999 by professors from Stanford University and California Polytechnic State University, <\/a>the cubesat format was designed to lower the barriers to space for universities, small organizations and companies.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

By following a shared design standard and using off-the-shelf components<\/a>, teams can build and launch fully functional satellites in months rather than years, and at a fraction of the cost of traditional spacecraft.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Where is it?<\/p>\n

This image was taken at the ISS’s Kibo module in low-Earth orbit<\/a> around 248 miles (400 kilometers) above our planet.<\/p>\n

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A photo from the Kibo module on the ISS shows a cubesat being launched above Earth. (Image credit: \u00a0JAXA\/NASA)Why is it amazing?<\/p>\n

While cubesats are used in a variety of space research, the three<\/a> recently deployed by JAXA are focused specifically on auroral activity and the understanding of space weather. The YOTSUBA-KULOVER cubesat was developed by the Kyushu Institute of Technology, while the e-kagaku-1 was built by students in the e-kagaku Association and BOTAN was constructed by the Chiba Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n

All three will look at specific factors around space weather and auroras, including volcanic pumice and solar activity.<\/p>\n

Want to learn more?<\/p>\n

You can learn more about cubesats<\/a> and the International Space Station. <\/a><\/p>\n

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In its efforts to broaden global access to space, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) recently launched three…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[90,416,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-215656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-space","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}