Electron | Kakushin Rising (JAXA Rideshare)
JAXA-manifested rideshare of eight separate spacecraft that includes educational small sats, an ocean monitoring satellite, a demonstration satellite for ultra-small multispectral cameras, and a deployable antenna that can be packed tightly using origami folding techniques and unfurled to 25 times its size. The satellites were originally planned to launch with RAISE-4 on a Japanese Epsilon-S rocket, but the Epsilon-S was heavily delayed due to test firing failures. The 8 satellites are: * MAGNARO-II * KOSEN-2R * WASEDA-SAT-ZERO-II * FSI-SAT2 * OrigamiSat-2 * Mono-Nikko * ARICA-2 * PRELUDE
Launch Vehicle
Electron
Electron is Rocket Lab's small orbital launch vehicle and one of the most innovative rockets flying today. Its Rutherford engines are almost entirely 3D-printed and use an electric turbopump driven by lithium-polymer batteries — eliminating the gas generator found on conventional engines. Rocket Lab began recovering and reusing first-stage boosters in 2022, making Electron the first small-class rocket with an active reuse programme.
18 m (59 ft)
1.2 m (3.9 ft)
300 kg (to 500 km SSO)
2
January 21, 2018 (first successful orbital flight; first attempt May 25, 2017)
Engines
9× Rutherford (first stage), 1× Rutherford Vacuum (second stage)
Propellant
RP-1 (kerosene) / Liquid Oxygen
Reusable
YesNotable
- Rutherford engines are the first 3D-printed, flight-proven orbital rocket engines
- Electric turbopump — driven by batteries — replaces the traditional gas generator cycle
- First stage recovered via helicopter capture over the ocean (first successful catch: May 2, 2022)
- 50+ orbital flights, serving commercial, NASA, DARPA, and NRO customers
T-Minus
Instantaneous
This mission has a zero-second launch window. The rocket must lift off at the exact planned second — if it misses for any reason, the launch is scrubbed and rescheduled. Instantaneous windows are typical for missions that must match a precise orbital plane (e.g. ISS rendezvous) or hit a narrow interplanetary trajectory.
13 days out
Weather forecasts beyond 4 days are too unreliable for launch planning. Check back closer to launch time.
No livestream link available yet
Unknown Pad, Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Launch data via TheSpaceDevs Launch Library. Weather estimates via Open-Meteo using vehicle-specific commit criteria. Always verify with the launch provider.