WASHINGTON — A Rocket Lab Electron launched a set of cubesats sponsored by the Japanese space agency JAXA April 22 on the company’s second dedicated mission for the agency.
The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 11:09 p.m. Eastern on a mission called “Kakushin Rising” by the company. The rocket’s upper stage deployed its payload of eight cubesats into a 540-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit nearly an hour later.
The eight satellites on JAXA’s Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration-4 mission were developed by Japanese companies and universities to test advanced technologies in space. Those technologies include a multispectral camera, sensors to detect electromagnetic precursors of earthquakes, and an antenna that unfolds to 25 times its stowed size using origami techniques.
JAXA originally planned to launch those eight cubesats along with a larger technology demonstration satellite, RAISE-4, on an Epsilon rocket. However, that rocket has been grounded since a 2022 launch failure and subsequent issues during static-fire tests of the rocket’s solid-fuel motors.
Because of those problems, JAXA signed a contract with Rocket Lab in October 2025 for two Electron launches, one for RAISE-4 and the other for the cubesats. RAISE-4 successfully launched on an Electron in December.
This launch came a few weeks after the previous orbital Electron launch, carrying a pair of European Space Agency navigation technology demonstration satellites called Celeste. ESA opted to launch Celeste on Electron because of a lack of near-term European launch options for the satellites and a May 2026 deadline to put their reserved frequencies into use.
“Two successful missions in a matter of months, deployed precisely where they needed to be on orbit, shows exactly why Electron is the preferred small launcher for national space agencies,” Peter Beck, chief executive of Rocket Lab, said in a statement. “JAXA is a world leader in space and it’s been an honor to be trusted with these back-to-back missions growing Japan’s aerospace economy.”
The launch for JAXA took place a little more than 24 hours after the suborbital variant of Electron, HASTE, lifted off from Launch Complex 2 at Wallops Island, Virginia. Rocket Lab did not disclose the launch, codenamed “Bubbles,” including the customer for the launch or its outcome. The JAXA mission was the eighth Electron launch overall this year, including two HASTE flights.