NASA is contributing instruments, navigation support and sample curation to JAXA's MMX mission, which aims to explain how Phobos and Deimos formed and bring part of Phobos back to Earth.
The 13th UK–Japan Joint Committee on science and technology met in Tokyo on 9 October 2026, endorsing collaboration and setting shared priorities, including 15 areas with goals in an attached fact sheet.
In an Oct. 8, 2026, advisory, NASA announced a media teleconference for Oct. 15 about MMX. The mission's launch was then scheduled for Oct. 19 EDT, or Oct. 20 in Japan.
A Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar image, captured on 28 September 2026, shows Typhoon Surigae over the Philippine Sea about 200 km south of Japan's Shikoku island, revealing wind-driven sea conditions beneath the clouds.
NASA announced on September 24, 2026 that Kayla Barron, Chris Birch, Japan's Makoto Suwa and Russia's Arutyun Kiviryan were assigned to SpaceX Crew-14, targeted to launch no earlier than spring 2027.
A Japan-funded initiative with UNHCR and UNICEF is reported to expand birth registration access for roughly 1.2 million people in Sulu, where about 20 per cent of residents were unregistered in the 2020 census.
In a Sept. 21, 2026 report, NASA said Johnson Space Center employees staffed a booth at Houston's Japan Festival on Sept. 12-13, showing Artemis III crew materials, models of Orion and the space station, and astronaut gear visitors could try on.
In a call reported on 20 August 2026, the UK and Japanese prime ministers discussed trade cooperation, GCAP defence work with Italy, Canada's observer role, Ukraine support and Indo-Pacific stability.
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