Space One KAIROS

Japanese private small-lift orbital rocket

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KAIROS (Kii-based Advanced & Instant Rocket System)
Size
Function	Launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Space One
Country of origin	Japan
Height	18 m
Diameter	1.35 m
Mass	23 t
Stages	4
Capacity
Payload to 500 km LEO, 33° inclination
Mass	250 kg (550 lb)
Payload to 500 km SSO
Mass	150 kg (330 lb)

Associated rockets
Comparable	Minotaur I Pegasus Electron Ceres-1
Launch history
Status	In development
Launch sites	Spaceport Kii
Total launches	1
Failure(s)	1
First flight	13 March 2024
[edit on Wikidata]

The KAIROS rocket (カイロスロケット), or Kii-based Advanced & Instant Rocket System,^[1] is a Japanese solid-fuel rocket designed to launch small satellites of mass up to 250 kg to low Earth orbit and up to 150 kg to sun-synchronous orbit by the private spaceflight company Space One.^[2] It consists of 3 solid fuel powered stages and a liquid propellant upper stage.

Namesake

The namesake of the KAIROS rocket is the Greek word Kairos, which means the subjective 'right time' as contrasted with Chronos which is the objective clock time. Kairos is also an alternate spelling of the name of Caerus, the Greek deity of luck and opportunity.^[3]

Manufacture

IHI Aerospace [ja] manufactures the KAIROS rocket at Tomioka Plant in the city of Tomioka, Gunma Prefecture. ^[4]^[5]

Launches

Launch site

Launches are planned from Spaceport Kii in Kushimoto, Wakayama, Japan, a dedicated launch site built by Shimizu Corporation.^[6]^[7] This spaceport is accessible from Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) via Nanki–Shirahama Airport in approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes, and from Kansai International Airport in approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes.^[7]

First launch

The first launch was planned on 9 March 2024^[8] but was postponed because a ship was spotted in the "maritime warning area" set up in waters near the launch pad.^[9]^[10]^[11] The launch eventually took place on 13 March 2024, but the vehicle exploded five seconds after liftoff.^[12] The remains of the rocket fell close to the launch pad, but no substantial damage was found.^[13] Space One announced that the autonomous flight termination system could have activated and ended the mission. The launch failure is still under investigation.^[14]

List of launches

S.no	Flight No.	Date (UTC)	Payload(s)	Outcome	Remarks
1	1	13 March 2024 02:01:12	Rapid Launch Small Satellite	Failure	Vehicle destroyed by automatic Flight Termination System at T+5 seconds.^[14]

References

^ "スペースワンの「カイロスロケット初号機」、3/9にスペースポート紀伊より打上げ". SPACE Media (in Japanese). 2024-01-29. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
^ "Space One - Launch Vehicle". Space One. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
^ Thompson, Gary (2012). "Electronic Kairos". Cybercultures. At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries. Vol. 83. pp. 1–13. doi:10.1163/9789401208536_002. ISBN 9789401208536.
^ "IHI AEROSPACE Co., Ltd. Company Profile". IHI AEROSPACE Co., Ltd. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
^ 日経ビジネス電子版 (21 November 2019). "日本初の民間ロケット発射場、なぜ本州最南端に". 日経ビジネス電子版 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-03-09.
^ "【スペースポート紀伊】日本初！民間企業が建設ロケット打ち上げ射場起工式を開催スペースワン". 建設通信新聞Digital. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
^ ^a ^b "Space One - Spaceport Kii". Space One. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
^ "Announcement of the KAIROS Rocket's First Launch Schedule" (PDF). Space One. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
^ NEWS, KYODO. "Rocket launch by private Japanese firm Space One postponed". Kyodo News+. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
^ "スペースワンの小型ロケット、13日に打ち上げ再設定". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2024-03-11. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
^ "Japan private firm reschedules rocket launch for Wednesday | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News". NHK WORLD. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
^ "Moment Japan's Space One rocket explodes". YouTube. 12 March 2024.
^ Foust, Jeff (2024-03-13). "First Kairos rocket explodes seconds after liftoff". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
^ ^a ^b "スペースワンの小型ロケット「カイロス」爆発、打ち上げ直後に". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2024-03-13. Retrieved 2024-03-13.

External links

Official Website (in English)

Japanese orbital launch systems

Space agencies

JAXA

Active	H-IIA H3
Planned	Epsilon S
Retired	Epsilon H-IIB SS-520 (Three stage variant)

ISAS

Retired	Lambda (4S) Mu (4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V)

NASDA

Retired	N-I‡ N-II‡ H-I‡ H-II

NASDA/ISAS

Retired	J-I¤

Private sector

IST

Planned	ZERO

Space One

Active	KAIROS

Galaxy Express

Abandoned	GX‡

‡ Based around licence-produced US rockets; ¤ Never flew an orbital flight (only 1 suborbital flight performed)

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega original C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Ariane 6 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)