Sakigake, Japanese space probe to Halley's Comet, launched 1985

Japan launched its first interplanetary spacecraft Sakigake on January 7, 1985 to explore Halley's Comet during its 1986 visit to Earth.   It was the first deep space probe to be launched by a country other than USA or the Soviet Union.

Sakigake was developed by two entities who became part of the Japanese Exploration Agency (JAXA).  It made a flyby of the comet in March 1986 at just under 7 million kilometers.  It did not carry any imaging instruments. 

Japan planned for it to do a flyby of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner but the idea was abandoned due to lack of propellant.

Telemetry was lost in November 1995 but its beacon signal was received until January 7, 1999.