Kiku-7 Chaser

200px|thumb|ETS-7 The ETS-VII, or Engineering Test Satellite No. 7, was a satellite developed and launched by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). It is also known as KIKU-7. It was launched aboard an H-II rocket from Tanegashima Space Center, on 28 November 1997. The ETS-VII was equipped with a robotic arm, which was used to carry out several experiments related to rendezvous docking and space robotics. It was the world's first satellite to be equipped with a robotic arm, and also Japan's first uncrewed spacecraft to conduct autonomous rendezvous and docking operations successfully, decades after the docking of the Soviet Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188 spacecraft in 1967. Although it was originally intended to be used for 1.5 years, the satellite was functional for a period of almost five years. ETS-VII eventually decayed from orbit on 13 November 2015.

==Features== The ETS-VII consists of two main parts; the chaser satellite and the target satellite. The chaser satellite is the main satellite body, and was named Hikoboshi. A robotic arm was attached to this part. The smaller target satellite was named Orihime. The box shaped, complete satellite system weighed 2,860 kg. The ETS-VII was equipped with three solar panels, with two on the chaser satellite and one on the target satellite. The satellite was assisted by relative global positioning system (RGPS) navigation.