Venus just got a little lonelier. After more than a year of silence, Japan’s space agency JAXA has officially called time on its Akatsuki spacecraft, the country’s first successful mission to another planet.
The probe stopped responding in April 2024. Engineers kept trying to re-establish contact, but this week JAXA admitted defeat.
“We have been attempting to restore communication since last year, but it has been determined that further recovery is unlikely, and we have decided to bring this chapter to a close,” the agency said on X.
From Failure to an Against-the-Odds Comeback
Akatsuki, meaning dawn in Japanese, launched on 21st May 2010 with the ambitious goal of studying Venus’ fierce weather and hunting for lightning in its thick clouds. But the spacecraft almost never made it.
A faulty engine ruined its first shot at entering orbit, leaving it stranded in deep space for nearly five years. Most missions would have ended there. Instead, JAXA pulled off a remarkable rescue, using a tiny backup engine, just a fraction of the main engine’s power, to try again. Against the odds, it worked, and in 2015, Akatsuki slid into orbit. That comeback made history as Japan’s first successful planetary mission.
What Akatsuki Saw on Venus
Once in place, the spacecraft revealed Venus to be stranger than expected. Its cameras spotted a gigantic, bow-shaped structure in the atmosphere stretching from pole to pole. Scientists later explained it as a gravity wave, caused by powerful winds colliding with the planet’s mountains.
Akatsuki’s instruments kept watch on cloud movements in ultraviolet and infrared, tracked storm patterns, and probed the atmosphere with radio signals. For years, it gave scientists a clearer view of a planet often described as Earth’s “evil twin.”
The Pop Star Who Hitched a Ride
But Akatsuki wasn’t all science. Before launch, JAXA invited the public to send messages for the mission. Fans of Hatsune Miku, the virtual pop idol created by Crypton Future Media, answered in force, submitting about 13,000 drawings. Those illustrations were etched onto the spacecraft’s balance weights, making the blue-haired Vocaloid one of the strangest travellers ever sent to space.
What Comes After Akatsuki?
Although Akatsuki’s signal has faded for good, Venus won’t stay quiet. NASA has two major missions lined up: DAVINCI, set to launch in 2030, and VERITAS, following in 2031. Both will dig into the mystery of how a world so similar to Earth turned into a furnace wrapped in toxic clouds.
Akatsuki’s story, part triumph, part heartbreak, and part pop culture oddity, ensured that Japan’s first journey to another planet won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
