Japan's H3 aces it's return to flight test

I started out the week talking about launches that aren't from US with the scrub of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum on Monday the 15th, from Norway's Andøya spaceport. That was a convenient starting point, but absolutely not the start of launches from overseas. 

I didn't know until this morning's Payload newsletter that Spectrum's launch was preceded by a Japanese (JAXA) launch, and will be followed by the European Space Agency's Ariane 6 mission carrying Amazon LEO satellites which will launch from French Guiana on Wednesday morning, June 17 at 7:53 AM Eastern time. The Isar Aerospace launched that scrubbed on Monday has been rescheduled for Thursday at 4:00 PM Eastern US time.  That linked site is currently saying the video coverage is private and not openly viewable, but I wouldn't be surprised if that changed. Not that we have lots of experience with Isar Aerospace launches - it's still only their second test flight. 

JAXA's (the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) H3 test flight was a follow up to the failed mission in December of '25. 

JAXA notched a successful return to flight for its H3 rocket following its failure in December.

The rocket launched on its eighth mission—the first successful flight of the new three-engine variant—Friday morning from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center, delivering all six of its payloads to space. 

“The launch vehicle flew as planned, and the second stage of the H3 launch vehicle was injected into the predetermined orbit,” JAXA said in a statement. “JAXA appreciates all for the support shown on behalf of the launch.”

H3 clears the tower on the way to a successful Return to Flight mission. Image credit: JAXA

The H3 carried five payloads to the desired orbit. 

• PETREL, an EO sat developed by the Tokyo Institute of Technology;
• STARS-X, a debris capture demo from Shizuoka University;
• BRO-22, an RF sat for maritime surveillance from Unseen Labs;
• VERTECS, a scientific sat to study star formation from the Kyushu Institute of Technology;
• HORN-L and HORN-R, a pair of sats demoing how atmospheric drag can support debris mitigation.

While it's true the SpaceX launches more than the rest of the world combined, that doesn't mean they're not working to catch up. It's a source of national pride for other countries or regions (like the European Union) to be able to launch their own payloads.