National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan

The National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) was established in July 1955 as the National Aeronautical Laboratory and took its present name in 1963 after an Aerospace Division was added. It conducted research on aircraft, rockets and other aeronautical transportation systems and related technology, developing large-scale test facilities for use by related organizations, and was involved in the autonomous ALFLEX aircraft and the cancelled HOPE-X spaceplane. NAL also developed supercomputer and numerical simulation technology, working with Fujitsu on the Numerical Wind Tunnel system that began operating in 1993 and ranked among the world most powerful supercomputers through the late 1990s. On October 1, 2003, NAL merged with the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and the National Space Development Agency to form the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/