A compact spherical camera that can be used to capture 360-degree spherical images in outer space, which had been developed jointly by JAXA Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center and Ricoh Company, Ltd., was carried aboard the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV8) “KOUNOTORI-8”, the cargo transporter to the International Space Station (ISS), launched on September 25, 2019. The system with camera was then installed on the Exposed Facility of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) “Kibo.”
This camera, which was developed based on Ricoh’s compact spherical camera RICOH THETA, is used to monitor the operation of the biaxial gimbal of the SOLISS, a long-distance laser communication system developed jointly by JAXA and Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.
 Still and video images of the earth taken with this developed camera in outer space are released on Ricoh’s THETA Laboratory site (THETA LAB) and JAXA Digital Archives site (JDA).