Kakushin Rising
Kakushin Rising was a Rocket Lab Electron mission for JAXA that launched successfully at 03:09 UTC on 23 April 2026 (3:09 p.m. NZST on 23 April; 11:09 p.m. EDT on 22 April) from Launch Complex 1A on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula.
03:09 UTC on 23 April 2026 · 3:09 p.m. NZST on 23 April · 11:09 p.m. EDT on 22 April
Mission State
This mission currently has a dated launch window in the tracker.
The primary watch link points to an official Rocket Lab source.
Launch Updates
-
Launch success.
by Cosmic_Penguin Source: youtube.com -
Liftoff.
by Cosmic_Penguin Source: youtube.com -
Official Webcast by Rocket Lab has started
by LL2 Source: youtube.com
Updates via Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs).
Name Origin
"Kakushin" means "innovation" in Japanese, fitting JAXA's Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program. "Rising" puns on the launch — deploying 8 CubeSats to orbit.
Mission Overview
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
In the news
- Rocket Lab Completes Second Dedicated Launch for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) (opens in a new tab) Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab launched the Kakushin Rising mission from New Zealand. The Electron rocket deployed eight JAXA spacecraft for the Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program. This is the second dedicated JAXA…
- Electron launches Japanese cubesats (opens in a new tab) SpaceNews
Rocket Lab launched eight JAXA cubesats via Electron on April 22. The mission, Kakushin Rising, deployed the payload into a 540 km sun-synchronous orbit. This is Rocket Lab's second dedicated mission for JAXA.
Technical Details
10
kiwisLaunch data cross-checked against Wikipedia.
Was this a jellyfish launch?
UnlikelySun 23° above the horizon at liftoff — daylight, the sky is too bright.
Details
- Unlikely
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Liftoff
- 3:09 p.m. NZST · 03:09 UTC
- Sunset
- 5:29 p.m. NZST · 05:29 UTC
- Civil dusk (−6°)
- 5:56 p.m. NZST · 05:56 UTC
- Nautical dusk (−12°)
- 6:28 p.m. NZST · 06:28 UTC
- Astronomical dusk (−18°)
- 6:59 p.m. NZST · 06:59 UTC
Twilight times at the pad (Mahia, NZ) for the evening of the launch.
What's a rocket jellyfish? When a rocket launches in twilight, the ground is dark but its exhaust plume climbs into sunlight high above. The expanding plume glows against the dark sky in a jellyfish-like shape.
Space-Object Catalog
| Object | Operator | Built by | Mass | Orbit | Status | NORAD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FSI-SAT2 2026-088A · Payload | Operator Ippan Zaidan Hojin Mirai KagakuKenkyujo / Happy Science University | Built by Ippan Zaidan Hojin Mirai KagakuKenkyujo Cubesat 1U | Mass 1.4 kg | Orbit 533 × 554 km · 97.5° | Status On orbit | NORAD 68792 |
KOSEN-2R 2026-088B · Payload | Operator Yonago Kogyo Kotosen Mongakko | Built by Yonago Kogyo Kotosen Mongakko Cubesat 2U | Mass 2.7 kg | Orbit 532 × 554 km · 97.5° | Status On orbit | NORAD 68793 |
PRELUDE 2026-088C · Payload | Operator Nihon Daigaku | Built by Nihon Daigaku Cubesat 1U | Mass 1 kg | Orbit 533 × 552 km · 97.5° | Status On orbit | NORAD 68794 |
OrigamiSat-2 2026-088D · Payload | Operator Tokyo Kagaku Daigaku | Built by Tokyo Kagaku Daigaku Cubesat 3U | Mass 4 kg | Orbit 522 × 542 km · 97.5° | Status On orbit | NORAD 68795 |
ARICA-2 2026-088E · Payload | Operator Aoyama Gakuin Daigaku | Built by Aoyama Gakuin Daigaku Cubesat 1U | Mass 1 kg | Orbit 528 × 549 km · 97.5° | Status On orbit | NORAD 68796 |
WASEDA-SAT-ZERO-II 2026-088F · Payload | Operator Waseda Daigaku (Sodai) | Built by Waseda Daigaku (Sodai) Cubesat 1U | Mass 1.2 kg | Orbit 526 × 547 km · 97.5° | Status On orbit | NORAD 68797 |
MAGNARO-II A 2026-088G · Payload | Operator Nagoya daigaku | Built by Nagoya daigaku Cubesat 2U | Mass 3 kg | Orbit 524 × 551 km · 97.5° | Status On orbit | NORAD 68798 |
Mono-Nikko 2026-088H · Payload | Operator Kabushikigaisha dai Nikko enjiniaringu | Built by Kabushikigaisha dai Nikko enjiniaringu Cubesat 1U | Mass 1 kg | Orbit 524 × 551 km · 97.5° | Status On orbit | NORAD 68799 |
Electron 87 Stage 2 2026-088J · Stage | Operator Rocket Lab Ltd. | Built by Rocket Lab Ltd. Electron St2 | Mass 250 kg | Orbit 153 × 280 km · 97.5° | Status Decayed 2026-05-03 | NORAD 68800 |
Electron 87 Kick Stage 2026-088K · Stage | Operator Rocket Lab Ltd. | Built by Rocket Lab Ltd. Kick Stage | Mass 50 kg | Orbit 133 × 186 km · 97.5° | Status Decayed 2026-05-12 | NORAD 68801 |
