Akari says Japan is not only about Anime

Akari, a satellite to monitor atmosphere in the space, was successfully launched by JAXA at 6:28 a.m. on February 22, 2006 (Japan Standard Time,JST). It is the third successful launches in a single month, for JAXA, it is certainly a huge boost, after a several failures and mid-air explosions, and in facing fierce competition from Chinese, who have launched a man stuffed shuttle into the space.

On a similar note, US congressmen, who visited Chinese Space Launch sites in Jiuquan, Gansu Province in January, expressed interests to cooperate with China in exploring the space.

JAXA is going head to head with its Chinese counterparts