ESA and JAXA deepen collaboration in planetary defence

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to deepen collaboration in planetary defence, alongside a dedicated agreement for collaboration on the Ramses (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety) mission to the near-Earth asteroid Apophis.

The agreements were signed on 7 May 2026 by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa at the Embassy of Italy in Berlin, Germany, in the presence of European and Japanese institutional and industrial leadership. The event was hosted in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), in light of ESA’s selection of OHB Italia as prime contractor for the Ramses mission.

The move builds on a joint statement from November 2024, in which ESA and JAXA committed to expanding large-scale cooperation, including on planetary defence.