Koichi Wakata

Koichi Wakata
Koichi Wakata
若田光一
	Wakata in 2022
Born	1 August 1963 (age 61); Ōmiya, Saitama, Japan
Occupation	Structural Engineer
	Space career
NASDA/JAXA astronaut
Time in space	504 days, 18 hours, 33 minutes
Selection	1992 NASDA Group
Total EVAs	2
Total EVA time	14 hours, 2 minutes
Missions	STS-72; STS-92; STS-119/127 (Expedition 18/19/20); Soyuz TMA-11M (Expedition 38/39); SpaceX Crew-5 (Expedition 68);
Mission insignia
Retirement	31 March 2024

Koichi Wakata (若田光一, Wakata Kōichi, born 1 August 1963) is a Japanese engineer and an astronaut working for Axiom Space. Wakata retired from JAXA in 2024 after a career in spaceflight spanning nearly two decades. He logged over 500 days in space across five missions: three aboard the Space Shuttle, one on the Soyuz, and one on the Crew Dragon. His missions included three long-duration stays on the International Space Station (ISS) and two short-duration flights—one to the ISS and one aboard the Space Shuttle. Notably, during Expedition 39, he became the first Japanese commander of the ISS.^[1]

^ Ben Woods (26 March 2015). "How the world's first robot astronaut is helping pave the way for the future of human-android interaction". The Next Web. Retrieved 30 March 2015.

[1] Ben Woods (26 March 2015). "How the world's first robot astronaut is helping pave the way for the future of human-android interaction". The Next Web. Retrieved 30 March 2015.

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