54 meter dish, also built by Mitsubishi Electric, communicating with spacecraft in the X- and Ka- band frequencies. Phase 2 (GREAT2) to improve performance and reliability, in support of future projects, over the previous phase is now in progress. Other tracking stations in Okinawa, Masuda, and Katsuura are for satellite tracking and control. Collaborating with other space agencies: Previously, JAXA has worked closely with other space agencies in support of their respective deep space projects. Notably, in 2015 NASA's Deep Space Network provided communication and tracking services to the Akatsuki Venus probe through its 34 meter antennas. In October 2021, JAXA provided NASA with data it had received at Misasa from Juno during its flyby of Jupiter's moon Europa. As part of on-going joint support of deep space missions JAXA, ESA, and NASA are engaged in an effort to improve the X/Ka celestial reference frame as well as a unified X/Ka terrestrial frame to be shared by the three agencies. The 54 meter dish at MDSS enhances X/Ka sensitivity from having an aperture area two and a half times larger than the equivalent antennas in the NASA and ESA network. MDSS improves the network geometry with the first direct north-south baseline (Japan-Australia) in the X/Ka VLBI network, thereby providing four new baselines which will provide optimal geometry for improving declinations. Successes Prior to the establishment of JAXA, ISAS had been most successful in its space program in the field of X-ray astronomy during the 1980s and 1990s. Another successful area for Japan has been Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) with the HALCA mission. Additional success was achieved with solar observation and research of the magnetosphere, among other areas. NASDA was mostly active in the field of communication satellite technology. However, since the satellite market of Japan is completely open, the first time a Japanese company won a contract for a civilian communication satellite was in 2005. Another prime focus of the NASDA body is Earth climate observation. JAXA was awarded the Space Foundation's John L. "Jack" Swigert Jr., Award for Space Exploration in 2008. Launch development Japan launched its first satellite, Ohsumi, in 1970, using ISAS' L-4S rocket. Prior to the merger, ISAS used small solid-fueled launch vehicles, while NASDA developed larger liquid-fueled launchers. In the beginning, NASDA used licensed American models. The first model of liquid-fuelled launch vehicle indigenously developed in Japan was the H-II, introduced in 1994. However,