Japan Station: the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) was added to the station during Space Shuttle assembly flights in 2008. The space probe "Akatsuki" was launched May 20, 2010, and achieved orbit around Venus on December 9, 2015. Japan's plans in space exploration include: developing the "Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter" to be launched in 2018; and building a moon base by 2030. On September 14, 2007, it launched lunar explorer SELENE (Selenological and Engineering Explorer) on a H-IIA (Model H2A2022) carrier rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. SELENE is also known as Kaguya, after the lunar princess of "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".
Explorer 45 The spin rate was about 7 rpm, and the spin axis lay in the spacecraft orbital plane which was approximately the same as the earth's equatorial plane. The initial local time of apogee was about 21.8 hours and the line of apsides moved around toward the sun at an initial rate of 12° per month. The satellite was operationally turned off on 30 September 1974, after approximately 3 years of successful and productive operation. Explorer 45 Explorer 45 (also called as S-Cubed A and SSS-A) was a NASA satellite launched as part of Explorers program. Explorer 45 as launched on