Institute of Space and Astronautical Science

or ISAS, is a Japanese national research organization. ISAS studies astrophysics using rockets and satellites. ISAS is part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
History.
The ISAS began at the University of Tokyo in the 1955.
In 1994, Japan launched its first large rocket built solely with its own technology. According to Shigebumi Saito, former head of Japan's Space Activities Commission, "If we have no vehicle, it is like a navy without ships," 
ISAS was merged with two other space agencies in 2003 when JAXA was established.