Japan Just Shut Down a Spacecraft That Cheated Death for 10 Years, Here’s What It Saw on Venus

Japan's Akatsuki mission, which overcame initial setbacks to become the nation's first successful planetary orbiter, concluded in September 2025 after more than a decade of studying Venus's atmosphere. The spacecraft, launched in 2010, provided critical insights into Venusian atmospheric dynamics, including super-rotation and gravity waves, and contributed to understanding the planet's complex climate.