Akatsuki Mission Ends: Venus Loses Its Last Active Orbital Spacecraft

Akatsuki Mission Ends: Venus Loses Its Last Active Orbital Spacecraft

JAXA Declares End of Service for the Resilient Akatsuki Orbiter On Tuesday, October 28, 2025, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officially declared the end of the operational life for its Akatsuki spacecraft. The declaration marks a significant moment in planetary science: for the first time in over three decades, there are no active spacecraft…