Rocket Lab Corporation announced it has signed a direct contract with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for two dedicated Electron launches, highlighting the Electron rocket’s critical role in providing responsive, reliable access to space for international agencies. Launching from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, the first mission in December 2025 will deploy RAISE-4, a single satellite demonstrating eight technologies from Japanese private companies, universities, and research institutions. The second mission in 2026 will be a JAXA-manifested rideshare of eight satellites, including educational smallsats, an ocean monitoring satellite, a demonstration of ultra-small multispectral cameras, and a deployable antenna using origami-inspired folding technology.
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“It’s an incredible honor to be entrusted by JAXA to further their goals of innovation and development for Japan. These missions are a demonstration of Electron’s global importance – supporting the growth of Japan’s space industry with launch on a U.S. rocket from a New Zealand launch site – and we’re proud to be entrusted to deliver them,” said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck. Rocket Lab has established itself as a key launch partner for Japanese satellite operators, including constellation deployments for iQPS and Synspective, and prior successful missions such as Astroscale-Japan’s orbital debris removal and Tokyo-based ALE’s “Running Out Of Fingers” mission.