{"id":2961,"date":"2026-05-22T13:52:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/?p=2961"},"modified":"2026-05-22T13:52:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:52:40","slug":"rocket-lab-completes-2nd-dedicated-launch-for-japan-aerospace-exploration-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/rocket-lab-completes-2nd-dedicated-launch-for-japan-aerospace-exploration-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocket Lab Completes 2nd Dedicated Launch for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rocket Lab Corporation, a global leader in launch services and space systems, successfully launched its second dedicated mission for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), further strengthening the partnership between Rocket Lab and Japan&#8217;s national space agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The &#8220;Kakushin Rising&#8221; mission lifted off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 3:09 p.m. NZT to successfully deploy eight spacecraft for JAXA&#8217;s Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program. These included educational small satellites, an ocean-monitoring satellite, a demonstration satellite for ultra-small multispectral cameras, and a deployable antenna packed tightly using origami folding techniques that can unfurl up to 25 times its size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Kakushin Rising&#8221; builds on the success of Rocket Lab&#8217;s first dedicated launch for JAXA that took place in December 2025, which saw Electron deploy the RAISE-4 spacecraft that demonstrated new aerospace technologies developed by several companies, universities, and research institutions throughout Japan. As with that first mission, Rocket Lab worked closely with JAXA on &#8220;Kakushin Rising&#8221; to ensure the mission requirements for each satellite were met with precision and efficiency, reaffirming Electron&#8217;s reputation for reliability and mission success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck said: &#8220;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. JAXA is a world leader in space, and it has been an honor to be trusted with these back-to-back missions growing Japan&#8217;s aerospace economy.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Kakushin Rising&#8221; was Rocket Lab&#8217;s 8th launch of the year and 87th launch overall. Upcoming launches in 2026 include missions for commercial Earth observation, new space technology demonstrations on orbit, and national security and defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rocket Lab Corporation, a global leader in launch services and space systems, successfully launched&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[209,102],"tags":[326,328,327,331,332,323,329,324,330,333,325],"class_list":["post-2961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-launch","category-space-news","tag-ariane-6-news","tag-esa-space-missions","tag-europe-launch-industry","tag-european-aerospace-news","tag-european-satellite-industry","tag-european-space-news","tag-european-space-startups","tag-military-space-europe","tag-nato-space-defence","tag-space-defence-europe","tag-space-magazines-in-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2961"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2993,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2961\/revisions\/2993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacepreneurmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}