This space center was established in Uchinoura (now Kimotsuki), Kagoshima prefecture, in 1962 as part of the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, when the original facility in Iwaki (now Yuri-Honjo), Akita prefecture, was closed down. In 1964, the space center became part of the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, University of Tokyo; in 1981 it became an independent research facility, the Kagoshima Space Center (KSC), attached to the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). Its name was changed to the Uchinoura Space Center (USC) when the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was formed.
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Moreover, 20-meter and 30-meter antennas receive telemetry from satellites to track and control them while in the earth’s orbit. The 34-meter antenna can backup the 64-meter deep-space antenna at the Usuda Deep Space Center.