🇯🇵Japan Launch History

Every orbital and deep-space launch attempt attributed to Japan, year by year, drawn from the GCAT launch catalog. Country is the launching state of the pad.

Data current as of 2026-07-20.

Japan made 144 orbital and deep-space launch attempts between 1966 and 2026. Of those, 125 succeeded and 19 failed. The success rate comes to 87 percent. The busiest year was 2017, with 7 launches. Japan has launched 2 times in 2026 so far. Launches took place from 4 sites.

144
Launch attempts
125
Successes
19
Failures
87%
Success rate

Launches per year

2 4 6 8 1966: 2 launches (0 successes, 2 failures) 1967: 1 launch (0 successes, 1 failure) 1968: 0 launches (0 successes, 0 failures) 1969: 1 launch (0 successes, 1 failure) 1970: 2 launches (1 success, 1 failure) 1971: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1972: 1 launch (1 success, 0 failures) 1973: 0 launches (0 successes, 0 failures) 1974: 1 launch (1 success, 0 failures) 1975: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1976: 2 launches (1 success, 1 failure) 1977: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1978: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 1979: 2 launches (1 success, 1 failure) 1980: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1981: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 1982: 1 launch (1 success, 0 failures) 1983: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 1984: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 1985: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1986: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1987: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 1988: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1989: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1990: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 1991: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1992: 1 launch (1 success, 0 failures) 1993: 1 launch (1 success, 0 failures) 1994: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1995: 2 launches (1 success, 1 failure) 1996: 1 launch (1 success, 0 failures) 1997: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 1998: 2 launches (1 success, 1 failure) 1999: 1 launch (0 successes, 1 failure) 2000: 1 launch (0 successes, 1 failure) 2001: 1 launch (1 success, 0 failures) 2002: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 2003: 3 launches (2 successes, 1 failure) 2004: 0 launches (0 successes, 0 failures) 2005: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 2006: 6 launches (6 successes, 0 failures) 2007: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 2008: 1 launch (1 success, 0 failures) 2009: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 2010: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 2011: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 2012: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 2013: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 2014: 4 launches (4 successes, 0 failures) 2015: 4 launches (4 successes, 0 failures) 2016: 4 launches (4 successes, 0 failures) 2017: 7 launches (6 successes, 1 failure) 2018: 6 launches (6 successes, 0 failures) 2019: 2 launches (2 successes, 0 failures) 2020: 4 launches (4 successes, 0 failures) 2021: 3 launches (3 successes, 0 failures) 2022: 1 launch (0 successes, 1 failure) 2023: 3 launches (2 successes, 1 failure) 2024: 7 launches (5 successes, 2 failures) 2025: 4 launches (3 successes, 1 failure) 2026: 2 launches (1 success, 1 failure) 1966 1976 1986 1996 2006 2016 2026
Successes Failures Each bar links to that year's full chronology.

Year by year

Year Attempts Successes Failures Success rate
2026 2 1 1 50%
2025 4 3 1 75%
2024 7 5 2 71%
2023 3 2 1 67%
2022 1 0 1 0%
2021 3 3 0 100%
2020 4 4 0 100%
2019 2 2 0 100%
2018 6 6 0 100%
2017 7 6 1 86%
2016 4 4 0 100%
2015 4 4 0 100%
2014 4 4 0 100%
2013 3 3 0 100%
2012 2 2 0 100%
2011 3 3 0 100%
2010 2 2 0 100%
2009 3 3 0 100%
2008 1 1 0 100%
2007 2 2 0 100%
2006 6 6 0 100%
2005 2 2 0 100%
2003 3 2 1 67%
2002 3 3 0 100%
2001 1 1 0 100%
2000 1 0 1 0%
1999 1 0 1 0%
1998 2 1 1 50%
1997 2 2 0 100%
1996 1 1 0 100%
1995 2 1 1 50%
1994 2 2 0 100%
1993 1 1 0 100%
1992 1 1 0 100%
1991 2 2 0 100%
1990 3 3 0 100%
1989 2 2 0 100%
1988 2 2 0 100%
1987 3 3 0 100%
1986 2 2 0 100%
1985 2 2 0 100%
1984 3 3 0 100%
1983 3 3 0 100%
1982 1 1 0 100%
1981 3 3 0 100%
1980 2 2 0 100%
1979 2 1 1 50%
1978 3 3 0 100%
1977 2 2 0 100%
1976 2 1 1 50%
1975 2 2 0 100%
1974 1 1 0 100%
1972 1 1 0 100%
1971 2 2 0 100%
1970 2 1 1 50%
1969 1 0 1 0%
1967 1 0 1 0%
1966 2 0 2 0%

Launch sites

Counts for each GCAT launch site attributed to Japan.

Site code Site Launches Successes Failures First year Last year
TNSC Tanegashima Space Center 98 92 6 1975 2026
KASC Kagoshima Space Center, Uchinoura 35 27 8 1966 2006
USC Uchinoura Space Center 8 6 2 2013 2022
KII Spaceport Kii 3 0 3 2024 2026

Recent launches

The most recent launches attributed to Japan, newest first.

Date Designator Payloads Vehicle Site / Pad Outcome
Jun 12, 2026 2026-132 H3-F6 : STARS-X Climber, STARS-X Daughter, VEP-5
+6 more , HORN-R, VERTECS, HORN-L, BRO-22, PETREL, STARS-X Mother
H3-30S TNSC / Y2 Success
Mar 5, 2026 2026-F04 3 : AETS-1, NUTSAT-3, SC-Sat-1a
+2 more , HErO, Tatara-1R
Kairos KII / LC1 Failure
Dec 22, 2025 2025-U06 H3-F8 : QZS-5 H3-22S TNSC / Y2 Failure
Oct 26, 2025 2025-241 H3-F7 : Tenkoh-2, HMU-SAT2, LEOPARD
+5 more , UiTMSAT-2, Gxiba-1, CORAL, KNACKSAT-2, HTV-X1
H3-24W TNSC / Y2 Success
Jun 28, 2025 2025-141 H-IIA-50 : GOSAT-GW H-IIA 202 TNSC / Y Success
Feb 2, 2025 2025-023 H3-F5 : QZS-6 H3-22S TNSC / Y2 Success
Dec 18, 2024 2024-F04 2 : Unknown cubesat, PARUS-T1A, SC-Sat-1
+2 more , Ishiki, Tatara-1
Kairos KII / LC1 Failure
Nov 4, 2024 2024-198 H3-F4 : DSN 3 H3-22S TNSC / Y2 Success
Sep 26, 2024 2024-176 H-IIA-49 : IGS Radar-8 H-IIA 202 TNSC / Y Success
Jul 1, 2024 2024-123 H3-F3 : ALOS-4 H3-22S TNSC / Y2 Success
Mar 13, 2024 2024-F01 1 : Tanki Uchiagegata Kogata Kairos KII / LC1 Failure
Feb 17, 2024 2024-032 H3-TF2 : TIRSAT, VEP-4, CE-SAT-1E H3-22S TNSC / Y2 Success
Jan 12, 2024 2024-010 H-IIA-48 : IGS Optical-8 H-IIA 202 TNSC / Y Success
Sep 6, 2023 2023-137 H-IIA-47 : SORA-Q, LEV-1, SLIM
+1 more , XRISM
H-IIA 202 TNSC / Y Success
Mar 7, 2023 2023-F03 H3-TF1 : ALOS-3 H3-22S TNSC / Y2 Failure
Jan 26, 2023 2023-012 H-IIA-46 : IGS Radar-7 H-IIA 202 TNSC / Y Success
Oct 12, 2022 2022-F04 E-6 : FSI-SAT, KOSEN-2, MAGNARO
+5 more , WASEDA-SAT-ZERO, MITSUBA, QPS-SAR 4, QPS-SAR 3, RAISE-3
Epsilon USC / EP Failure
Dec 22, 2021 2021-128 H-IIA-45 : Inmarsat 6 F1 H-IIA 204 TNSC / Y Success
Nov 9, 2021 2021-102 E-5 : DRUMS Target 2, DRUMS Target 1, ARICA
+8 more , KOSEN-1, DRUMS, Hibari, Z-SAT, NanoDragon, RAISE-2, TeikyoSat-4, ASTERISC
Epsilon USC / EP Success
Oct 26, 2021 2021-096 H-IIA-44 : QZS-1R H-IIA 202 TNSC / Y Success
Nov 29, 2020 2020-089 H-IIA-43 : Hikari deta chukei eisei H-IIA 202 TNSC / Y Success
Jul 19, 2020 2020-047 H-IIA-42 : Hope Probe H-IIA 202 TNSC / Y Success
May 20, 2020 2020-030 H-IIB-F9 : HTV 9 H-IIB TNSC / Y2 Success
Feb 9, 2020 2020-009 H-IIA-41 : IGS Optical-7 H-IIA 202 TNSC / Y Success
Sep 24, 2019 2019-062 H-IIB-F8 : NARSScube-1, AQT-D, RWASAT-1
+1 more , HTV 8
H-IIB TNSC / Y2 Success

Showing the latest 25 of 144 launches.