Elsewhere in the space world, Japan successfully launched its flagship H3 rocket earlier today.
The launch came after a previous mission to put a geolocation satellite into orbit ended in failure.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reported that the rocket carrying six small satellites blasted off at 9:53 am (0053 GMT) from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan.
The H3 was developed to boost the international competitiveness of Japan’s rocket industry, but Japan’s planned launch rate runs far behind SpaceX’s.
AFP explains:
The agency is targeting up to eight H3 launches a year – still far below privately owned SpaceX, which dominates the global satellite launch market with 165 Falcon 9 orbital flights in 2025, compared to just two for H3.
