Raise and Shine
Raise and Shine was a Rocket Lab Electron mission for JAXA that launched successfully at 03:09 UTC on 14 December 2025 (4:09 p.m. NZDT on 14 December; 10:09 p.m. EST on 13 December) from Launch Complex 1B on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula.
03:09 UTC on 14 December 2025 · 4:09 p.m. NZDT on 14 December · 10:09 p.m. EST on 13 December
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 Nosu Source: jaxa.jp -
Spacecraft separation.
by Cosmic_Penguin Source: youtube.com -
Liftoff.
by Cosmic_Penguin Source: youtube.com
Updates via Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs).
Name Origin
Pun on "rise and shine" — replacing "rise" with RAISE (RApid Innovative payload demonstration SatellitE-4), the JAXA technology demonstration satellite.
Mission Overview
RAISE-4 (RApid Innovative payload demonstration Satellite-4) is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) satellite for on-orbit demonstrations of 15 demonstration components and equipment selected by public solicitation. The satellite will be operated in response to requests from the demonstration theme proposers, and will provide experimental data of the demonstration devices and environmental data during the experiments. 6 of the demonstration payload, as well as as well as 4 cubesats originally planned to ride on the same launch vehicle, are re-flight of those planned for RAISE-3, which failed to reach orbit in October 2022. The launch vehicle was switched from Epsilon-S to Rocket Lab's Electron due to continuous testing problems with the Epsilon-S' 2nd stage motor. The original 8 hitch-hiking cubesats will be launched on another Electron rocket later.
In the news
- Rocket Lab Electron rocket aborts liftoff at engine ignition (opens in a new tab) Spaceflight Now
Electron's "Bridging the Swarm" mission aborted at ignition due to a sensor anomaly. Sensors performed as designed. Rocket Lab plans a rapid fix to maintain its ambitious triple-launch December schedule.
Technical Details
44
kiwis- https://rocketlabcorp.com//assets/Uploads/RL-F77-JAXA-Presskit-v3.pdf rocketlabcorp.com
Launch data cross-checked against Wikipedia.
Was this a jellyfish launch?
UnlikelySun 48° above the horizon at liftoff — daylight, the sky is too bright.
Details
- Unlikely
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Liftoff
- 4:09 p.m. NZDT · 03:09 UTC
- Sunset
- 8:30 p.m. NZDT · 07:30 UTC
- Civil dusk (−6°)
- 9:02 p.m. NZDT · 08:02 UTC
- Nautical dusk (−12°)
- 9:43 p.m. NZDT · 08:43 UTC
- Astronomical dusk (−18°)
- 10:30 p.m. NZDT · 09:30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Electron 77 Stage 2 2025-297A · Stage | Operator Rocket Lab Ltd. | Built by Rocket Lab Ltd. Electron St2 | Mass 250 kg | Orbit 144 × 210 km · 97.5° | Status Decayed 2025-12-24 | NORAD 67072 |
RAISE-4 2025-297B · Payload | Operator Ucyu Koku Kenkyu Kaihatsu Kikou | Built by Mitsubishi Jukogyo Kabushiki-kaisha RAPIS | Mass 110 kg | Orbit 529 × 545 km · 97.5° | Status On orbit | NORAD 67073 |
Electron 77 Kick Stage 2025-297C · Stage | Operator Rocket Lab Ltd. | Built by Rocket Lab Ltd. Kick Stage | Mass 50 kg | Orbit 139 × 163 km · 97.5° | Status Decayed 2026-01-31 | NORAD 67074 |
