Satoshi Furukawa (古川 聡 Furukawa Satoshi, born April 4, 1964) is a Japanese surgeon and JAXA astronaut. Furukawa was assigned to the International Space Station as a flight engineer on long-duration missions Expedition 28/29, lifting off 7 June 2011 and returning 22 November 2011.
Soyuz TMA-02M begins expedition 28 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Sergey Volkov alongside Flight Engineers, Michael E. Fossum (NASA) & Satoshi Furukawa (JAXA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on 22 November 2011, 02:26 UTC
Low Earth OrbitThe Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is Japan's national aero-space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and the launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions, such as asteroid exploration and possible manned exploration of the Moon. JAXA launch their Epsilon vehicle from the Uchinoura Space Center and their H-II vehicles from the Tanegashima Space Center.