TOKYO — Japan’s flagship H3 rocket failed to deliver a navigation satellite into its planned orbit on December 22, 2025, marking a major setback for the country’s space ambitions.
The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-built vehicle lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center at 10:51 a.m. JST carrying the Michibiki 5 satellite — part of Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), intended to enhance regional navigation precision.
Although first-stage flight performance appeared nominal, the rocket’s second-stage engine failed to reignite as planned, shutting down prematurely. As a result, the satellite could not reach the targeted orbit and the mission was declared a failure by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
This marks the second failure for the H3 following an unsuccessful debut flight in 2023, despite several successful missions in between. In response, JAXA has formed a task force to investigate the anomaly and determine corrective measures before future launches.
The QZSS network is designed to offer improved positioning services for smartphones, vehicles, and other systems across the Asia-Oceania region, with plans to expand the constellation in coming years. This failure could delay those plans and impact Japan’s goal of geolocation independence from the U.S. GPS system.
Officials from JAXA and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology have apologized to stakeholders and pledged a thorough investigation to restore confidence in the H3 launch program.
