A Japanese commercial space company's small rocket launch fails for the third time

SpaceOne, a Japanese commercial space company, suffered its third failed launch of its small rocket, the Kairos 3, during ascent. This marks the third launch failure for the series, following two failed attempts in 2024.

After a temporary abort on Wednesday (March 4), SpaceOne launched the Kairos 3 from the Kii Space Launch Site in Wakayama Prefecture at 11:10 AM local time (10:10 AM Singapore time) on Thursday (March 5).

Live footage showed the rocket exhibiting unstable flight attitude and an abnormal trajectory shortly after liftoff. SpaceOne determined that the rocket was unlikely to successfully deliver the satellites into orbit and decided to abort the launch.

Xinhua News Agency reported that the Kairos 3, carrying five microsatellites, was initially scheduled for launch in February but was repeatedly postponed due to weather and other factors. On Wednesday morning, the launch was aborted after a safety system was triggered.

The Kairos rocket is a four-stage tandem rocket, approximately 18 meters long, 1.35 meters in diameter, and weighs about 23 tons. It has a low Earth orbit payload capacity of 250 kg and a sun-synchronous orbit payload capacity of 150 kg. SpaceOne originally hoped to make this rocket the space launch vehicle with the shortest time from contract signing to launch globally.

The Kairos rocket attempted to launch satellites twice, in March and December 2024, both times ending in failure. Kairos 1 exploded and disintegrated in mid-air seconds after liftoff, and Kairos 2 aborted its flight shortly after launch.