Launch Failures and Setbacks: Innospace and Japan's H3 Rocket

South Korean startup Innospace faced a significant setback with its first orbital launch attempt of the Hanbit-Nano rocket on December 22, 2025. The rocket, launched from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil, failed approximately a minute after liftoff due to an anomaly, leading to its crash back to Earth.

Innospace, which was founded in 2017 and has developed its technology in-house, had been aiming to deliver five small satellites into a sun-synchronous orbit. Meanwhile, Japan's H3 rocket also experienced failure on the same day, with its second-stage engine suffering an anomaly, preventing the deployment of the Michibiki 5 satellite.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, has created a special task force to investigate the failure, which follows a prior unsuccessful launch in March 2023 due to similar issues. The H3 rocket had undergone five successful flights since its first failure but now faces uncertainty regarding future launches, as JAXA aims for at least two H3 launches per year.

Both Innospace and JAXA's recent experiences highlight the challenges in achieving reliable launches within the evolving landscape of space exploration.