Spaceport Kii
Commercial spaceport in Japan
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Spaceport Kii (Japanese: スペースポート紀伊; sometimes stylized as Space Port Kii) is a commercial spaceport located in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. Japan's first private spaceport, it is operated by Space One, who are using it to launch their solid-fuel rocket KAIROS. Three launch attempts have been made on the site, on 13 March and 17 December 2025 and on 4 March 2026, which all ended up being a failure.[1][2][3][4]
 Aerial photo of Spaceport Kii under construction (5 October 2019). | |||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Spaceport Kii | |||||||||||||
| Location | Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan | ||||||||||||
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| Coordinates | 33.5443°N 135.8895°E | ||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+9 (JST) | ||||||||||||
| Operator | Space One | ||||||||||||
| Total launches | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Launch pad | 1 | ||||||||||||
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Location and construction
Spaceport Kii is located near the southernmost tip of Honshu and is only a two-minute (1.9 kilometer) drive from Kii-Uragami Station in Nachikatsuura.
The launch site was funded by several Japanese corporations, including Canon Inc., Shimizu Corporation (who also constructed the site),[5] and IHI Corporation.[6] Ground broke on 19 November 2019.[5]
Launches
The first launch attempt of the KAIROS rocket was scheduled on 8 March 2024,[7] however it was delayed to the 13th due to a ship in too close of proximity.[8] It launched on the 13th, but disintegrated just seconds later.[1]
The second launch of KAIROS was initially scheduled for 14 December 2024, but was ultimately scrubbed twice to 18 Dec due to bad weather. The 2nd launch had a successful liftoff, but ultimately suffered a loss of control nearing the end of the first-stage burn and was terminated. Its third launch while carrying a small government test satellite, on 4 March 2026, also ended in failure. The flight was terminated two minutes after launch.[4]
Space One has stated that it plans to have around 20 launches of KAIROS a year.[5][2]
