it signed a contract with JAXA for two Electron launches<\/a>: one for RAISE-4 and another for a set of eight cubesats that will also test advanced technologies. Those cubesats were originally planned to fly with RAISE-4 on a single Epsilon-S but will now launch on a separate Electron in early 2026.<\/p>\n\u201cThis dedicated mission delivered precision and reliability for one of the world\u2019s most respected space agencies, and we couldn\u2019t be prouder of supporting JAXA with the dedicated access to space needed to support the growth of Japan\u2019s aerospace economy,\u201d Rocket Lab Chief Executive Peter Beck said in a statement after the launch.<\/p>\n
The mission, called \u201cRAISE And Shine\u201d by Rocket Lab, took place as the company reordered its manifest of upcoming Electron launches. The launch was originally scheduled for Dec. 4 (U.S. time) but was delayed several days because of weather and additional prelaunch checks.<\/p>\n
While the JAXA mission slipped, Rocket Lab announced Dec. 9 that another Electron launch would move ahead of it. That mission, called \u201cBridging the Swarm,\u201d is intended to place NEONSAT-1A, an Earth observation satellite for the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, into orbit. Rocket Lab scrubbed a Dec. 10 launch attempt, however, citing the need to assess sensor data.<\/p>\n
In its statement about the JAXA launch, Rocket Lab did not provide a new launch date for NEONSAT-1A. Instead, the company said the next Electron launch is planned from Launch Complex 2 at Wallops Island, Virginia, without disclosing additional details.<\/p>\n
That mission is likely STP-S30 for the Defense Department\u2019s Space Test Program and would include the first flight of a DiskSat, a disk-shaped small satellite developed by the Aerospace Corporation. Navigational warnings are in place for an Electron launch there between Dec. 18 and 23.<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 A Rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully launched a technology demonstration satellite for the Japan Aerospace Exploration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2164,61,60,27482,23661,1935,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-191404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-electron","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-jaxa","12":"tag-rocket-lab","13":"tag-sn","14":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}