Japanese Space Startup Scraps Kairos Rocket Launch
The abort occurred at a launch facility in Wakayama, a prefecture in western Japan, where the third unit of the company's Kairos rocket stood ready on the pad. The 18-meter, 23-ton solid-fuel vehicle had been loaded with five satellites destined for orbit — payloads that would have separated from the rocket approximately 50 minutes after launch at an altitude of around 500 kilometers.
Wednesday's attempt was itself a fallback. Space One had originally scheduled the mission for February, only to push it to Sunday and then again to 11 a.m. local time Wednesday, each time citing unfavorable weather as the cause.
The latest scrub deepens a troubling track record for the company, which was founded in 2018. Its inaugural Kairos rocket exploded approximately five seconds after liftoff in March 2024, the result of a thrust prediction error. A second launch attempt later that same year also ended in failure when the vehicle self-destructed following an altitude control malfunction.
Space One has yet to achieve a successful orbital mission.
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