SS-520 – Spaceflight Now

October 19, 2026

Breaking News

[ October 16, 2026 ] Blue Origin to add new Florida launch pads, seeks aggressive increase in New Glenn flight rate New Glenn
[ October 15, 2026 ] SpaceX launches a classified payload for U.S. Space Force Falcon 9
[ October 13, 2026 ] SpaceX launches NASA science and cargo to the International Space Station Falcon 9
[ October 13, 2026 ] Launch preview: NASA, SpaceX to launch new solar arrays, 6,300 pounds of cargo to the space station Falcon 9
[ October 12, 2026 ] SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 27 Starlink satellites from California Falcon 9

Souped-up sounding rocket lifts off from Japan with tiny satellite

February 2, 2018 Stephen Clark

A modified sounding rocket originally designed to loft science instruments on high-altitude suborbital arcs blasted off Saturday from the Uchinoura Space Center in southern Japan and soared into orbit to become the world’s smallest satellite launcher.

Experimental flight of Japanese sounding rocket falls short of orbit

January 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

A small research rocket launched from Japan fell into the Pacific Ocean on Saturday after attempting to send a student-built CubeSat into orbit, Japanese officials said.

Launch of experimental Japanese rocket scrubbed

January 10, 2017 Stephen Clark

The launch of an experimental fin-stabilized Japanese rocket with a shoebox-sized CubeSat was scrubbed Tuesday, pushing back a test flight to demonstrate how companies and institutions can inexpensively put small satellites in space.