Adelaide, Australia, March 16 (Jiji Press)–Australian Space Agency leader Enrico Palermo said Tuesday that his agency plans to boost its cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.

“We are now in discussion with our partner JAXA how we can expand our partnership and cooperation,” Palermo told reporters in the southern Australian city of Adelaide, where his agency is based.

In December last year, Japan’s Hayabusa2 unmanned probe separated a capsule containing samples from asteroid Ryugu to send it back to Earth.

The capsule landed in a desert in southern Australia and was retrieved by JAXA. Australia supported the operations.

This “demonstrated the ability of our nation to work together on a very technical program,” Palermo said. He took office as agency head in late January this year.