Japan's space agency JAXA has successfully tested its reusable RV-X rocket. The vehicle lifted off, reached about 11 meters in altitude, traveled horizontally and landed safely. It's an important step for reusable rocket technology.

Liftoff! Congratulations to @JAXA_en, @NASA, and the entire MMX team. Once MMX reaches Phobos, our P-Sampler will collect surface material using high-pressure, ultra-pure nitrogen gas. Mounted on one of the MMX lander’s four legs, the P-Sampler is designed to complete sampling in a matter of seconds: Photo Credit: @JAXA_en

One week until the launch window opens for @JAXA_en's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. Our Pneumatic Sampler, or P-Sampler, will soon be heading to Phobos aboard the MMX spacecraft. Designed to use high-pressure nitrogen gas to collect Phobos regolith, it will support the study of Mars’ moons and their origins. Learn more about P-Sampler:

LIVE: Tune in as agency leaders and partners discuss NASA's contributions to @JAXA_en's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, scheduled to lift off on Monday, Oct. 19.

NASA astronauts @AstroIronMike, @zenanaut and @JAXA_en astronaut @Astro_Kimiya spent this week in the DC area sharing their experiences of living aboard @Space_Station as part of Expedition 73/74. 📷:

3 countries define the orbital map: 🇺🇸 US: Dominating via commercial constellations 🇷🇺 Russia: Second place by decades of Cold War legacy 🇨🇳 China: Surging with rapid active deployments The part nobody can afford to ignore, though, is the share of debris. (data from JAXA's Space Operations Safety Report)

🇯🇵🇺🇸 Japan is going where no one has gone before: a moon of Mars... and back again with souvenirs JAXA’s $350 million mission, with $87 million chipped in by NASA, launched Tuesday on a five-year round trip to Phobos, a 17-mile space potato that might be a captured asteroid or a chunk blasted off Mars itself. Russia tried the same thing in 2011 and never left Earth orbit. Japan’s Hayabusa probes already brought asteroid dust home twice, so the country with the thinnest headlines in space is about to answer a question NASA has been asking since the 1970s. Source: WSJ / Writer: Daniel