Electron launches Japanese cubesats
Posted: Sat, Apr 25, 2026, 10:57 AM ET (1457 GMT)
An Electron rocket launched a set of Japanese cubesats Wednesday night. The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 11:09 pm EDT (0309 GMT Thursday) deploying eight cubesats sponsored by the Japanese space agency JAXA into sun-synchronous orbits. The cubesats, developed by Japanese companies and universities, are designed to test advanced technologies. The launch was the second of two ordered by JAXA last fall for launching tech demo smallsats prompted by problems with Japan's Epsilon small launcher. The launch came a little more than 24 hours after the suborbital version of Electron, HASTE, launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, on a classified mission.
An Electron rocket launched a set of Japanese cubesats Wednesday night. The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 11:09 pm EDT (0309 GMT Thursday) deploying eight cubesats sponsored by the Japanese space agency JAXA into sun-synchronous orbits. The cubesats, developed by Japanese companies and universities, are designed to test advanced technologies. The launch was the second of two ordered by JAXA last fall for launching tech demo smallsats prompted by problems with Japan's Epsilon small launcher. The launch came a little more than 24 hours after the suborbital version of Electron, HASTE, launched from Wallops Island, Virginia, on a classified mission.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Blue Origin announces new upper stage and engine for New Glenn
Posted: Sat, Nov 7 12:07 PM ET (1707 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, November 8
Interstellar Technologies selected for Space Strategic Fund’s Acceleration of Commercial Rocket Launch Demonstration Program
Interstellar Technologies — 1:19 pm ET (1819 GMT) Orbital Lasers Signs R&D Contract with JAXA to develop LiDAR Altimeter Payload for HTV-X Demonstration
Orbital Lasers — 1:19 pm ET (1819 GMT) AAC Clyde Space scales maritime data services with two additional Sedna satellites
AAC Clyde Space — 1:18 pm ET (1818 GMT) How Does Sand Flow on the Moon? Bremen’s GraviTower Enables New Insights for Future Space Missions
ZARM — 1:18 pm ET (1818 GMT) AT&T and AST SpaceMobile: Engineering the Connected World, One Handoff at a Time
ATT — 1:17 pm ET (1817 GMT) |
