Japan Launches H3 Rocket Carrying Michibiki 7 Satellite

Japan successfully launched an H3 rocket carrying the Michibiki No. 7 positioning satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture.

An H3 rocket launches from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center carrying the Michibiki 7 positioning satellite. [Photo: Kyodo News]

The H3 rocket lifted off at about 4:23 a.m. Japan Standard Time and successfully placed Michibiki 7 into its planned high-Earth orbit roughly 29 minutes later. 

The mission was the ninth launch of Japan's H3 rocket and marked another successful step in the country's effort to expand its Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), which works alongside the U.S. GPS network.

Michibiki is Japan's satellite-based positioning system and is designed to improve positioning accuracy and availability across Japan and the wider Asia-Oceania region. Japan eventually plans to expand the QZSS constellation to 11 satellites. 

The successful launch also followed the failure of the H3's previous Michibiki mission in December 2025, when the Michibiki No. 5 satellite failed to reach its intended orbit.