The start-up has so far had three failed launches in its attempt to become the first Japanese private entity to put a satellite into orbit
1-MIN READ1-MIN ListenReutersandKyodoPublished: 11:01am, 5 Mar 2026Japan’s Space One said its Kairos rocket terminated its flight after lift-off on Thursday, failing to achieve the country’s first entirely commercial satellite launch on its third attempt in a row.
Kairos “terminated the flight after judging that the achievement of its mission would be difficult”, the company said in a statement. “We are currently investigating the details.”
Space One’s Kairos No 3, a 23-tonne solid-fuel rocket, lifted off in the morning from the privately run Space Port Kii in Kushimoto, Wakayama prefecture, on the Pacific coast.
If the flight had succeeded, it would have made Space One the first Japanese private entity to put a satellite into orbit on its own.
The 18-metre (59-foot) rocket was carrying five experimental satellites from Japanese companies and the Taiwan Space Agency.
Thursday’s failure came a day after the Japanese start-up made a last-minute decision to cancel an already postponed launch.
