Rocket Lab signs contract for two Electron launches with JAXA

Rocket Lab (RKLB) Corporation signed a direct contract for two dedicated Electron launches with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency- signifying the criticality of Electron to international space agencies requiring responsive launch and dedicated access to space. Launching from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand, the two Electron missions will deploy satellites for JAXA’s Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program. The first launch, scheduled from December 2025, will deploy the agency’s RApid Innovative payload demonstration SatellitE-4 spacecraft, a single satellite that will demonstrate eight technologies developed by private companies, universities, and research institutions throughout Japan. The second launch, scheduled for 2026, is a 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.