Written by staff writer.
Space One postponed its planned March 9, 2024 debut Kairos rocket launch at the last minute because a ship had strayed into the downrange maritime warning area.
It was the fifth delay for the Japanese private space company, which is attempting to become the country’s first non-government operator to put a satellite into orbit.
The 18-metre-tall Kairos rocket was scheduled to lift off from Kairos’s own spaceport outside Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, at 11.00 am (local time) on Saturday. Mission control detected the ship in the restricted area approximately ten minutes before the launch. They initially delayed the lift-off for 15 minutes before deciding to postpone it.
“We informed the public in advance that we wanted to make the area free of people, but even ten minutes before the launch, a vessel remained in the area, so we decided to cancel the launch because it would have been impossible for them to leave promptly,” Space One’s Kozo Abe told Japanese news outlets later that day.
The company had hoped to send its Kairos rocket into space in 2021. However, Space One repeatedly pushed back the date because of supply chain issues, Covid-19, and the war in Ukraine.
Onboard Kairos is a prototype “quick response” satellite for the Japanese government’s Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center (CSICE). Specific details of the satellite have not been released for security reasons. However, it is known that it will enter a Sun- Synchronous Orbit. CSICE has previously sent satellites into orbit, including the Information Gathering Satellites (IGS), which provide early warnings of North Korean missile activity.
Kairos was founded in 2017 and its four financial backers and shareholders include Canon Electronics, IHI Aerospace, Shimizu Corporation, and Development Bank of Japan. The company says once up and running with its own rocket and launch site, they will offer the world’s shortest lead time from contractual engagement to launch, as well as the world’s most frequent launch schedule. Ultimately, Space One wants its spaceport to host around 20 launches annually. The solid fuel three-stage expendable Kairos rocket can carry a payload to an altitude of 500 kilometres and offers both Sun- Synchronous and Low Earth Orbit options.
While Space One is on the cusp of becoming Japan’s first private space company to take a satellite into orbit, it is not the first Japanese private entity to send a rocket into space. Interstellar Technologies achieved that in 2019.
Before that, private sector involvement in launches was at the behest of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). They contracted Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to operate the H-IIA rocket, which went into service in 2001, and later the H3-22S rocket, which deployed in 2023. JAXA has also tapped IHI Corporation to operate the Epsilon rocket, which launched in 2013.
Mitsubishi and IHI continue to work with JAXA, and Space One and Interstellar spearhead the push into space by Japanese private sector companies. Interstellar is eyeing a return to space in 2025, while Space One will again attempt to launch Kairos on March 13, 2024.
