Launch Preview: Japan to launch Kairos as Falcon 9 launches Starlink missions

Date:
Mon, 02 Mar 2026 22:20:29 +0000

Description:
Five missions are expected to launch this week, with Falcon 9 scheduled to launch four The post Launch Preview: Japan to launch Kairos as Falcon 9 launches Starlink missions appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

FULL STORY ======================================================================

Five missions are expected to launch this week, with Falcon 9 scheduled to launch four Starlink missions from Florida and California. Internationally, Japan is to launch its Kairos rocket for the third time, hoping for success
on this attempt following two previous launch failures.

The week will also feature several notable milestones, with SpaceX aiming to make its 600th Falcon booster recovery attempt and a Vandenberg-based booster scheduled to fly for the 32nd time.





Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-41

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched as expected on Sunday, March 1, at 9:56 PM EST (Monday, 02:56 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida, carrying a payload of 29 v2 Mini Starlink satellites into a low-Earth orbit (LEO).

The booster supporting this mission was B1078, flying for the 26th time, having previously supported 20 Starlink missions, Crew-6, O3b power 3 & 4, USSF-124, BlueBird Block 1, and Nusantara Lima.

After ascent, the booster separated and performed a burn to initiate reentry and return to land atop the autonomous droneship Just Read The Instructions , stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Falcon 9 is a 3.9 m diameter, 70 m tall two-stage rocket. Nine Merlin 1D engines power the first stage booster, while the second stage utilizes a single vacuum-optimized Merlin engine. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy were the first orbital rockets to achieve regular reuse, with a Falcon booster having recently flown 33 flights. The two payload fairings are also recovered and reused after flight.



Kairos | Flight Three

Japanese commercial launch company Space One is expected to launch its Kairos rocket on its third flight on Wednesday, March 4, at 02:00 UTC, having scrubbed a previous launch attempt last week due to poor weather. Kairos will launch from Spaceport Kii the companys dedicated launch site in the Kii Peninsula within the Wakayama Prefecture. This 15-hectare site includes a
pad, tower, control center, storage, and integration facilities, opening out to the sea at the southernmost point of Japans main island of Honshu.

Space One failed to reach orbit on its first two Kairos rocket missions. The maiden flight in March 2024 was terminated by the autonomous flight termination system due to underperformance of the first stage, while Flight Two in December 2024 was lost when a sensor failure led to a loss of control during the first-stage burn.

The vehicle will target LEO and is expected to carry five small payloads
under Space Ones Space Courier Service. The Tarara-1R, a microsatellite, will launch alongside four 3U cubesats. Among these cubesats is Arc Edge Spaces AETS-1, which will demonstrate new satellite bus technology, and SC-Sat1, an in-house-developed cubesat designed to test the fault-tolerance performance
of the SC-OBC Module 1A onboard computer. The three other cubesats are built by high school students in partnership with Terra Space.

The Kairos vehicle is similar in size to Rocket Labs Electron, standing 18 m tall with a diameter of 1.5 m. Massing 23,000 kg, it is capable of carrying 250 kg to LEO or 150 kg to a Sun-synchronous orbit at 500 km. The first three stages are solid-fuelled, using motors developed by IHI Aerospace, an
investor in Space One, which have also been used on the Japanese Epsilon rocket. The fourth stage is a liquid-fuelled kick stage. Space One plans to build its launch cadence to a level higher than that of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), with the intention of increasing to 20 launches
per year before the end of the decade.



Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 10-40

Another Starlink mission will launch from SLC-40 at the CCSFS on Wednesday, March 4, at 1:58 AM EST (06:58 UTC). The 29 satellites that comprise Starlink Group 10-40 will be lifted by booster B1080, flying on its 25th flight.

The booster will land atop the droneship A Shortfall Of Gravitas , stationed approximately 640 km northwest of the launch site in the Atlantic Ocean.B1080 has previously supported 18 Starlink missions, in addition to the Axiom Mission 2, Euclid, Axiom Mission 3, CRS-30, Astra 1P/SES-24, and CRS-21 missions.

Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-18

Falcon 9 is then scheduled to launch the Starlink Group 17-38 mission from SpaceXs California launch facility, Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California. Liftoff is scheduled
for Wednesday, March 4, at 1:00 PM PST (21:00 UTC).

The payload of 25 Starlink v2 Mini satellites will be launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSSO) by booster B1097, which will land on SpaceXs
west coast droneship Of Course I Still Love You . B1097 will be making its seventh flight, having previously flown the Sentinel-6 B, Twilight (Pandora and Others), and four Starlink missions.



Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 17-31

The fourth and final Starlink mission of the week will also launch from
SLC-4E at VSFB. SpaceX is targeting Sunday, March 8, for the launch of Starlink Group 17-31, at 3:58 AM PST (10:58 UTC).

Falcon booster B1071 will be supporting this mission, flying on its 32nd mission. B1071 is Vandenbergs fleet leader, and is only one flight behind the east coasts B1067. The booster has previously supported the NROL-87, NROL-85, SARah 1, SWOT, Transporter 8, Transporter 9, NROL-146, Bandwagon-2, NROL-153, NROL-192, Transporter 15, and 19 Starlink missions. Whats more, B1071s
planned landing atop Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific will mark SpaceXs 600th Falcon recovery attempt.

This mission will be Falcon 9s 30th of 2026 and the 613th overall. Furthermore, this mission will mark the 48th orbital launch attempt worldwide in 2026.

(Lead image: A Falcon 9 pierces through the clouds during Starlink Group 10-31. Credit: Max Evans for NSF)



The post Launch Preview: Japan to launch Kairos as Falcon 9 launches Starlink missions appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/03/launch-preview-030226/


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