[dwc]

I would call it a fluke.

Two things to keep in mind:

* Don't compare JAXA (or anyone else) to NASA at this point. We (the US) have a ton of experience, some of it bought the hard way.

* This isn't Japan's typical performance. They have a nice string of very good space science missions. And don't forget things like the Mars Climate Orbiter[1], where ground based commands sent it through the atmosphere due to a unit mix up.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Climate_Orbiter

[gammarator]

A recent NASA science satellite had its magnetic torque bars wired in backwards by the contractor, so it's not like this is a thing of the past in the US, either. Thankfully they saw the angular momentum building and shut it down before it spun out of control.

Space is hard, and in many cases you have only one chance to get it right.