Naoko Yamazaki

Yamazaki earned a Master of Engineering degree majored in Aerospace Engineering from University of Tokyo in 1996, then started working for current Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In 1999, she was selected as an astronaut candidate and was qualified as a Soyuz-TMA Flight Engineer in 2004 and NASA Mission Specialist in 2006. On April 5, 2010 Yamazaki was onboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the crew of STS-131, an assembly & resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

After retiring from Japan Aerospace Space Agency (JAXA) in 2011, Yamazaki served as a member of National Space Policy Committee (NSPC) of Japan Cabinet Office (2012 – 2022) and currently as its subcommittees. Yamazaki co-founded Space Port Japan Association in 2018 and is serving as its representative director to open multiple commercial and local governments’ spaceports in Japan.

Yamazaki also has been devoting herself to educate the next generations as a president of Young Astronaut Club Japan and a chairperson of “Sorajo (women in aerospace)” under Japanese Rocket Society.

Yamazaki also joined in Council of The Earthshot Prize, which was launched by Prince William and the The Royal Foundation in 2020, to inspire a decade of action to repair our home planet.