Editing JAXA (section)

=== i-Space : ETS-VIII, WINDS and QZS-1 ===
To upgrade Japan's communication technology the Japanese state launched the i-Space initiative with the ETS-VIII and WINDS missions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://i-space.jaxa.jp/ispace.html |title=I-Space Web Site – i-Space- |access-date=2008-08-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081225200106/http://i-space.jaxa.jp/ispace.html |archive-date=25 December 2008 }}</ref>

ETS-VIII was launched on 18 December 2006. The purpose of [[ETS-VIII]] is to test communication equipment with two very large antennas and an atomic clock test. On 26 December both antennas were successfully deployed. This was not unexpected, since JAXA tested the deployment mechanism before with the LDREX-2 Mission, which was launched on 14 October with the European Ariane 5. The test was successful.

On 23 February 2008, JAXA launched the Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite ([[WINDS]]), also called "KIZUNA". WINDS aimed to facilitate experiments with faster satellite Internet connections. The launch, using [[H-IIA]] launch vehicle 14, took place from [[Tanegashima Space Center]].<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://global.jaxa.jp/press/2008/02/20080223_kizuna_e.html |title=Launch Result of the KIZUNA (WINDS) by the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No. 14 (H-IIA F14) |publisher=JAXA |date=23 February 2008 |access-date=30 April 2021}}</ref> WINDS was decommissioned on 27 February 2019.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.jaxa.jp/press/2019/03/20190301a_j.html |title=超高速インターネット衛星「きずな」（WINDS）の運用終了について |trans-title=Regarding the end of operations for the ultra-high-speed Internet satellite KIZUNA (WINDS) |publisher=JAXA |date=1 March 2019 |access-date=30 April 2021 |language=ja}}</ref>

On 11 September 2010, JAXA launched QZS-1 (Michibiki-1), the first satellite of the [[Quasi Zenith Satellite System]] (QZSS), a subsystem of the global positioning system (GPS). Three more followed in 2017, and a replacement for QZS-1 is scheduled to launch in late 2021. A next-generation set of three satellites, able to operate independent of GPS, is scheduled to begin launching in 2023.