The Tanegashima Space Center (種子島宇宙センター Tanegashima Uchū Sentā) (TNSC) is one of Japan's space development facilities. It is located on Tanegashima, an island located 115 km south of Kyūshū. It was established in 1969 when the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) was formed. It is now run by JAXA.
The activities that take place at TNSC include assembly, testing, launching and tracking of satellites, as well as rocket engine firing tests. It is Japan's largest space development center.
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There are several facilities at the TNSC. There are two orbital launch complexes; Yoshinobu and Osaki. Yoshinobu has two launch pads. One of the firing test facilities is the Yoshinobu Firing Test Stand, where testing of the H-IIA first stage engine LE-7A takes place. There are also buildings for assembly of spacecraft, and for radar and optical tracking of launched spacecraft.
In Empire Earth: The Art of Conquest, in the Asian Campaign, the Tanegashima Space Center is an important location, pivotal in the story to the United Federation of Asian Republics reaching Mars before the Americans or Europeans. The spaceport was completely destroyed in a nuclear bombing raid by Novaya Russia, but was rebuilt by the UFAR at the request of their ally, Japan.
Mossdeep Space Center in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald is based on this location.
Episode 2 of the Japanese animated film 5 Centimeters Per Second features a rocket launch from Tanegashima Space Centre.
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