KUSHIMOTO: Space One Co. postponed the launch of a Kairos rocket carrying a satellite that had been scheduled Saturday morning at its Spaceport Kii facility in the town of Kushimoto in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan.

The postponement was due to a ship remaining in a warning area in the sea 10 minutes before the planned launch time, according to the company. Space One is expected to reschedule the launch of the No. 1 unit of Kairos for Wednesday or later.

At a press conference held at a hotel in the town of Nachikatsuura in the same prefecture, Kozo Abe, executive officer of Space One, noted that the ship did not leave the area quickly. “We were unable to handle the situation smoothly because this was our first time” launching a rocket, he said.

He denied that the postponement was due to a technological issue.

“We hope to live up to expectations” by considering measures, such as conducting surveillance activities in the warning zone earlier, Abe added.

If successful, it would have been the first launch in Japan of a rocket that was developed by the private sector only and carries a satellite.

The Kairos No. 1 unit, with three solid-fuel stages and a liquid-propellant upper stage, is 18 meters long and weighs about 23 tons, with a small satellite of the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center installed at the tip of the rocket.

Its launch was initially slated to take place within fiscal 2021, but had been put off four times due to delayed procurement of parts amid the COVID-19 crisis and Russia’s invasions of Ukraine.

Tokyo-based Space One was established in 2018 with joint investments by companies including Canon Electronics Inc. and IHI Aerospace Co. Space One is seeking to develop a service to send small satellites into space. It aims to launch 20 rockets a year.

“I’d like to show my respect (to the company) for reaching the starting point after several postponements (of the launch),” Wakayama Governor Shuhei Kishimoto told reporters. “I want to think that the latest postponement is a new starting point,” he added.

In May 2019, Interstellar Technologies Inc., founded by high-profile Japanese entrepreneur Takafumi Horie and others, successfully launched a completely private rocket, which was for observation, into space for the first time in Japan. The rocket did not carry a satellite.

JIJI Press