“KiboCUBE”—UNOOSA/JAXA Cooperation Program for Capacity Building by Using the Innovative CubeSat Launch Opportunity from ISS “Kibo”

In recent years, a growing number of universities and companies around the world have been developing the Micro/Nano-satellite (mainly CubeSat). These satellites are attracting much attention not only for their short-term and low-cost development, but also for their ability to perform various types of difficult missions, such as earth observation, technology demonstration, and planetary exploration. At the beginning of the Micro/Nano-satellite history, the method of transporting a satellite into orbit was as a piggyback payload carried aboard a launch vehicle, although launch opportunity was limited due to the launches of major satellites. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) developed a unique system called the JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD). to deploy and inject satellites into orbit from the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) known as “Kibo”—one of the International Space Station (ISS) modules—by taking advantage of its one and only function of having both the JEM-Airlock (JEM AL) and the JEM-Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), a special kind of robotic arm. In 2012, we successfully deployed five satellites on the first J-SSOD mission, which opened new capabilities for Kibo/ISS utilization and contributed to broadening the possibilities for Micro/Nano-satellites.