The Kibo Robot Programming Challenge (Kibo-RPC) is an educational program organized under the  “Asian Beneficial Collaboration through Kibo Utlization” (Kibo-ABC) initiative of the  Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) organized by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan, and space agency partners in the Asia-Pacific regions. Students are challenged to solve complex problems onboard the International Space Station (ISS) by programming free-flying robots (Astrobee) to complete various assigned tasks.

Participants will obtain and test programming skills to solve various problems by moving free-flying robots (Astrobee and Int-Ball) in a simulation environment. Preliminary rounds (National competition) will be held and the selected teams will run their programs on the free-flying robots in the final round at the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) aboard the International Space Station (ISS). 

Through this experience, students will learn the techniques and methods involved in programming and robotics, while boosting their interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) by moving actual robots on the ISS. Students will also learn about the importance of bridging the gap between simulation and reality. It is hoped that, by getting the opportunity to collaborate alongside professional scientists and engineers, students will be inspired to develop educational and professional goals that they only dreamed of before!